BX  8949 

.L34  1909 

Laird,  Washington 

R.  , 

,  1855?! 

1928. 

History 

of  First 

Presbyt 

erian  Chur 

ch 

of  Wes" 

<sbv 


J\ 


1      I'^l 


HISTORY 

OF 

FIRST  PRESBYTERIAN   CHURCH 

OF   WEST   CHESTER,    PA. 


WRITTEN    AND   COMPILED    BY 

REV.  WASHINGTON  R.  LAIRD,  Ph.  D. 
1909 

Village  Record  Print 


PREFACE. 

THIS  LITl'LE  BOOK  is  issued  in  commemoration  of 
the  Seventy-fifth  Anniversary  of  the  organization 
of  the  First  Presl^yterian  Church  of  West  Chester, 
Pa.,  which  was  oljserved  on  the  loth  and  nth  of  January, 
1909. 

Arrangements  which  had  been  careful!}'  made  were 
successfully  carried  out.  At  the  Sabbath  morning  service, 
January  loth,  at  10.30,  the  Rev.  George  Foot  Moore,  D.  D., 
of  Cambridge,  Mass.,  son  of  the  Rev.  William  E.  Moore, 
D.  D.,  fourth  pastor  of  this  church,  preached  the  sermon, 
taking  for  his  text,  i  Tim.  3:15:  "The  church  of  the  living 
God,  the  pillar  and  ground  of  the  truth." 

At  the  evening  service  at  7.30,  in  which  the  pastor, 
ofiicers  and  memljers  of  the  Westminster  Presbyterian 
Churcli  united,  giving  up  their  own  service  for  that  purpose, 
the  Rev.  B.  Canfield  Jones,  D.  D.,  of  Paterson,  N.  J.,  son  of 
the  Rev.  Benjamin  T.  Jones,  D.  D.,  fifth  pastor  of  this 
church,  preached  the  sermon,  taking  as  his  text,  Daniel 
1 1  :  32 :  "The  people  that  do  know  their  God  shall  be  strong 
and  do  exploits." 

Monday  evening,  Januar}-  iith,  was  made  an  "old 
home"  night,  a  meeting  being  held  in  the  church  to  which 
the  other  churches  in  AX'est  Chester  were  in\'ited,  and  es- 
l^ecially  all  residing  here  or  elsewhere,  who  at  any  former 
time  had  been  members  of  this  church. 

At  this  large  and  very  enthusiastic  service,  addresses 
were  made  by  the  following  pastors  of  the  town :  Rev. 
Arthur  Rogers,  Rector  of  the  Holy  Trinity  Episcopal 
Church  ;  Re^^  Arthur  H.  Simpson,  Pastor  of  the  First  Bap- 
tist Church  :  Rev.  Edwin  C.  Griffiths,  D.  D..  Pastor  of  the 
Methodist  Ei)iscopal  Church;  Rev.  Charles  H.  Shaw,  Pastor 


of  the  Olivet  Baptist  Church;  Rev.  Charles  R.  Williamson, 
Ph.  D.,  Pastor  of  the  Westminster  Presbyterian  Church, 
and  by  the  Rev.  B.  Canfield  Jones,  D  D.,  who  was  able  to 
remain  over  for  that  meeting.  A  few  remarks  were  made 
by  the  Pastor  of  this  church,  who  also  read  a  paper  pre- 
pared by  Mrs.  William  E.  Moore,  giving  reminiscences  of 
the  pastorate  of  her  husband,  which  is  published  in  its 
proper  place  in  this  historical  narrative. 

At  the  forty-third  anniversary  of  the  organization  of 
this  church,  which  was  observed  in  1876.  during  the  pas- 
torate of  Dr.  Jones,  a  very  valuable  historical  sermon  was 
delivered  ])y  the  Rev.  Dr.  Wm.  E.  Moore,  which  was  pub- 
lished at  that  time  in  the  "Daily  Local  News."  To  that 
sermon  we  are  indebted  for  nearly  all  the  material  in  this 
account  of  the  first  four  pastorates.  Some  items,  however, 
have  been  added  from  letters  received  from  the  Rev.  John 
Crowell,  D.  D..  of  East  Orange,  N.  J.,  the  third  pastor  of 
this  church  ;  also  extracts  from  an  obituary  of  the  Rev. 
^^'illiam  A.  Stevens,  and  several  extracts  from  the  Sessional 
Records,  giving  memorial  minutes,  adopted  after  the  death 
of  the  elders  who  died  while  members'  of  the  session.  A 
similar  ])lan  has  been  followed  as  to  elders  who  died 
during  the  last  three  pastorates  to  show  to  the  present 
generation  the  character  of  the  men  who  were  used  of 
God  in  the  eldership  as  well  as  in  the  pastorate,  in  carry- 
ing on  and  building  up  the  work  in  this  place.  It  is  a 
matter  of  regret  that  material  is  not  available  to  give 
a  like  estimate  of  the  valuable  services  of  the  elders  who 
resigned  their  oiTfice  or  were  certified  to  other  churches, 
and  of  whose  work  while  in  this  church  no  memorial  min- 
ute was  made. 

That  what  is  given  may  be  used  by  the  Holy  Spirit  to 
stimulate  us  all  to  be  more  worthy  successors  and  "follow- 
ers of  them  who  through  faith  and  patience  inherit  the 
promises,"  is  the  prayer  of 

THE    COMPILER. 


History  of  the  First  Presbyterian  Church 
of  West  Chester,  Pa. 

In  a  history  of  the  First  Presbyterian  Church  in  West 
Chester,  Pa.,  it  is  proper  to  call  attention  to  the  efforts  made 
to  establish  a  church,  almost  as  soon  as  the  town  itself  was 
organized.  There  is  good  reason  to  believe  that  these  were 
the  first  attempts  made  by  any  branch  of  the  church  to  es- 
tablish the  ordinances  of  God's  House  in  the  new  county 
seat. 

Prior  to  1786,  when  West  Chester  became  the  capital  of 
Chester  county,  this  now  beautiful  borough  was  but  a 
cross-roads  village  of  some  half  dozen  houses  clustering 
around  the  '"Turk's  Head"  tavern,  which  gave  the  name  by 
which  the  place  was  most  widely  known.  The  settlers  of 
the  adjoining  townships  were  almost  exclusively  of  the 
Society  of  Friends.  These  had  their  places  of  worship  at 
Birmingham,  Marshallton  and  Goshen,  each  about  four 
miles  distant  from  the  Turk's  Head. 

But  the  western  townships  had  been  settled  originally 
by  Presbyterians  from  the  north  of  Ireland.  On  the  north 
and  east  the  Welsh,  intermingling  with  the  Scotch-Irish, 
had  settled  in  and  beyond  the  Great  V^alley.  These  settlers 
had  brought  with  them  their  love  for  religion  and  liberal 
education.  They  had  founded  flourishing  congregations  at 
(ireat  Valley  and  Charlestown,  at  the  Forks  of  the  Bran- 
dywine,  Octorara,  Fagg's  Manor,  Doe  Run,  Oxford,  New 
London  and  Aliddletov/n  in  Chester  county;  at  Chestnut 
Level  and  Pequea,  in  Lancaster  county,  and  at  the  head 
of  Christiana.  White  Clay  Creek,  Lower  Brandywine,  and 
Wilmington,  in  Delaware. 

These  churches  thus  surrounding  the  new  county  seat, 
with  a  radius  of  from  ten  to  twenty-five  miles,  had  at  the 
time  referred  to,  1786,  for  the  most  part  a  settled  ministry, 
among  whom   we   find   some   of  the   oldest   preachers   and 


6  HISTORY    OF    THE     FIRST    PRESBYTERIAN 

ripest  scholars  of  their  day  in  America.  With  the  exception 
of  Great  Valley,  Charlestown  and  Middletown,  the  churches 
named  were  all  under  the  care  of  the  Presbytery  of  New 
Castle;  which,  formed  in  1716,  took  the  oversight  of  Pres- 
byterianism  in  all  the  regions  then  settled,  west  of  Phila- 
delphia. 

During  the  War  of  the  Revolution  the  Presbyterian 
Church  suffered  greatly.  JNIany  of  her  sons  enlisted  in  the 
army,  and  povired  out  their  lives  upon  the  field  of  battle.  The. 
causes  which  led  up  to  the  war  for  Independence,  had  long 
been  working  in  the  mind  and  hearts  of  Presbyterians. 
Their  religion  made  them  the  asserters  of  freedom.  Re- 
publican institutions  in  the  State  are  the  necessary  out- 
growth of  Presbyterian  polity  and  Calvanistic  doctrines 
in  the  church.* 

llie  Royal  Scot,  himself  a  renegade,  showed  his  usual 
keenness  when  he  said  that  "God  and  the  devil  agree  as  well 
as  Presbyterianism  and  monarchy."  Other  men  may  be 
republicans,  the  true  Presbyterian  must  be,  or  deny  the 
fundamentals  of  his  faith.  It  is  demonstrable  that  neither 
Prelacy  on  the  one  hand,  nor  Independency  on  the  other, 
could  have  originated  the  form  of  government  which  dis- 
tinguishes the  United  States  from  other  nations.  Its  ideal 
is  to  be  found  in  that  polity  which  characterized  the  "Re- 
formed" churches  of  Europe,  and  which  our  fathers  em- 
bodied in  the  form  of  government  of  the  Presbyterian 
Church,  a  government  of  constitutional  law,  administered 
by  representatives  chosen  by  the  people ;  a  democratic  re- 
public. 

Besides  their  affinities  for  free  institutions  few  Presby- 


*"By  these,"  says  Mr.  Buckes,  referring  to  the  Presbyterian 
Order — doctrine  and  worship,  "the  dying-  spark  of  freedom  was 
kindled  into  a  blaze"  in  Europe.  "To  John  Knox,"  the  founder  of 
Pi-esbyterianism  in  Scotland,  says  Froude.  "England  owes  a  debt  for 
liberty  it  cannot  repay."  "Calvin's  principles."  says  Henri,  "are  im- 
mortal and  immovable  both  in  government  and  doctrine."  "Geneva," 
says  Montesquieu,  "is  the  mother  of  modern  republics."  "Europe," 
says  Motley,  "owes  her  political  liberty  to  Calvin."  Bancroft,  liim- 
self  a  New  England  Unitarian,  declares  that  "Calvin,  bowing  to  no 
patent  of  nobility  but  that  of  the  elect  of  God,  made  Geneva  the  im- 
pregnable fortress  of  popular  liberty,"  and  adds  that  the  very  "first 
voice"  raised  for  liberty  in  this  land,  both  civil  and  religious,  "came 
from  Presbyterians,"  and  that  "he  who  will  not  honor  the  memory 
and  influence  of  Calvin  knows  but  little  of  the  origin  of  American 
liberty." 


CHITRCH.    OF   WEST   CHESTER,   PA. 


terians  had  any  warm  affection  for  the  government  of 
England.  Very  largely  their  fathers  had  been  exiled  for 
conscience  sake.  The  IdIuc  banner  of  the  covenant  bore 
many  a  stain  of  martyr  blood.  Even  to  the  memory  of  liv- 
ing men  the  winter  fireside  witnessed  the  rehearsal  of  the 
stories  of  the  Scottish  dragoonades  by  which  the  Stuarts 
sought  to  force  prelacy  upon  Scotland,  as  the  surest  support 
of  monarch}'.  To  them  the  cry,  "No  church  without  a 
Bishop,"  was  not  simply  a  matter  of  ecclesiastical  order.  It 
meant  also,  "No  State  without  a  king." 

It  is  not  strange,  therefore,  that  none  of  the  sons  of 
the  Presbyterian  Church  in  this  region  were  found  among 
the  Tories  of  that  day.  Few  of  them  shrank  from  the  call 
to  arms,  often  sounded  by  their  own  pastor.  Among  the 
noble  names  on  the  roll  of  our  country's  honor,  in  this 
struggle  for  liberty,  are  found  many  of  the  officers  and 
members  of  the  churches  named.  Their  pastors  in  many 
cases  rendered  services  in  camp  and  council  gratefully  ac- 
knowledged by  Congress  and  by  the  Commander-in-Chief. 

"In  1776,  Rev.  Dr.  Read,  then  pastor  in  Drawyers,  Del., 
with  some  forty  or  fifty  of  his  neighbors  and  parishioners, 
equipped  themselves  and  marched  to  Philadelphia,  then 
threatened  by  the  British  at  Trenton.  On  the  eve  of  the  bat- 
tle of  the  Brandywine,  1777,  Washington  suddenly  found 
himself  confronted  by  Lord  Howe,  who  had  landed  at  the 
head  of  Elk.  It  became  necessary  to  fall  back  behind  the 
Brandywine  by  unfrequented  roads.  But  no  guide  could 
be  found  who  knew  the  whole  country  well  enough  to  be 
trusted.  Colonel  Duff,  of  Washington's  staff,  rode  at  once 
to  Mr.  Read's  residence,  and  at  midnight  brought  him  to 
headquarters,  where  in  a  few  minutes  he  mapped  out  for 
the  commander  the  whole  adjacent  country,  with  every 
cross  road  and  bypath,  so  that  a  safe  retreat  was  effected 
from  a  very  perilous  position." 

Rev.  James  Latta,  at  one  time,  when  an  unusual  num- 
ber of  his  people  were  drafted  to  serve  in  the  militia,  took 
his  blanket  and  knapsack  like  a  soldier,  and  accompanied 


8  HISTORY    OF    THE    FIRST    PRESBYTERIAN 

them  on  their  campaign.     At  another  time  he  served  for  a 
while  as  Chaplain  in  the  army.* 

The  loss  of  life  and  property  dnring  the  war  was  very 
great.  The  unsettled  state  of  the  finances,  which  followed 
from  the  immense  inflation  of  the  currency,  weakened  the 
congregations  which  had  once  been  strong.  Emigration  to 
the  West  and  South  set  in  with  a  new  and  resistless  im- 
pulse. Several  of  the  congregations  were  left  without  a 
settled  ministry.  In  1789,  the  year  of  the  adoption  of  the 
Federal  Constitution,  and  also  of  the  meeting  of  the  First 
General  Assembly,  the  Presbytery  of  New  Castle  numbered 
twenty-five  congregations,  of  which  five  were  vacant,  and 
sixteen  ministers. 

A  new  and  mighty  impulse,  felt  even  to  this  day,  was 
given  by  the  first  General  Assembly  and  its  successors  to 
the  work  of  Home  Missions.  The  opening  West  already  at- 
tracted the  attention  of  the  churches,  and  many  of  her 
ablest  ministers  followed  or  led  the  people  of  their  charges 
to  the  frontier  of  New  York,  Ohio,  Virginia,  Kentuck}^  and 
Tennessee,  Avhere  the  sturdy  settler  was  yet  contending 
with  the  savage  foe ;  and  the  place  of  worship  must  be 
guarded  by  the  armed  sentinel.  But  the  fields  at  home 
were  not  overlooked.  With  a  self-denial  which  challenges 
our  warmest  admiration,  the  pastors  of  these  older  and  en- 
feebled churches,  many  of  whom  supplemented  their  scanty 
support  by  the  farm  or  the  school,  sought  out  and  supplied 
the  waste  places.     They  not  only  strengthened  the  things 


*James  Latta  wa.s  born  in  Ireland,  in  1732.  and  came  with  his 
parents  to  America,  in  the  sixtli  or  seventh  year  of  his  age,  who  settled 
near  Elkton,  Md.  The  date  of  his  conversion  i.s  unknown,  but  it  was 
early  in  life.  He  was  educated  under  Dr.  Francis  Alison,  chiefly  at 
New  London,  and  graduated  in  the  first  class  of  the  (now)  University 
of  Pennsylvania,  in  1757.  He  was  licensed  by  the  Presbytery  of 
Philadelphia,  P"'ebruary  1.5,  1759,  and  ordained  in  October  of  the  same 
year.  The  degree  of  D.  D.  was  conferred  on  liim  by  the  University 
of  Pennsylvania  in  1799.  He  had  four  sons  who  entered  the  ministry, 
viz..  Francis  Alison  Latta.  ordained  November  23,  1796,  succeeding 
his  father  at  Chestnut  Level.  He  was  celebrated  both  as  a  preacher 
and  a  teacher.  He  died  April  21.  1834,  aged  67.  AVilliam  Latta. 
D.  D.,  settled,  October,  1799,  over  the  churches  of  Great  Valley  and 
Charlestown,  and  continued  until  his  death,  February  19,  1847,  aged 
79.  John  Ewing  Latta,  ordained  August  13,  1800.  Pastor  of  New 
Castle  and  Christiana  until  his  death,  September  26,  1824,  aged  52. 
and  James  Latta,  Jr.,  settled  April  3,  1811,  at  Octorara,  where  he 
continued   until   1850,  a  period  of   39   years. 


CHURCH,    OF  WEST   CHESTER,   PA. 


which  remained,  which  were  read}'  to  perish,  but  also  laid 
the  foundations  of  churches  now  vigorous  with  life. 

As  we  have  seen,  West  Chester  became  the  county  seat 
in  1786.  Its  prospective  importance  as  a  centre  of  influ- 
ence, was  appreciated.  The  Presbytery  of  New  Castle,  at 
its  sessions  in  Lancaster,  October  21,  1790,  took  action  for 
supplying  ^Vest  Chester  with  stated  preaching. 

It  must  be  interesting  to  every  lover  of  history  to  know 
something  of  the  men.  who,  from  1790  to  1808,  lent  their 
counsels,  their  prayers,  and  their  labors  to  the  effort  to 
found  a  church  here,  where  as  yet  there  was  none. 

The  most  eminent  man  at  that  time  in  the  Presbytery 
of  New  Castle,  was  Dr.  Robert  Smith,  of  Pequea,  in  Lan- 
caster county,  who  died  in  1793,  after  a  pastorate  of  forty- 
two  years.* 

Rev.  Dr.  Robert  Smith  was  one  of  the  most  eminent 
men  of  his  day.  An  ardent  friend  of  American  liberty,  he 
was  the  trusted  counselor  of  the  statesmen  who  laid  the 
foundation  of  the  Republic.  But  he  was  especially  distin- 
guished for  his  ability  and  activity  in  the  ministry.  Abund- 
ant in  labors,  he  spent  much  time  in  visiting  vacant  and 
feeble  churches,  and  in  preaching  Christ  where  He  had  not 
been  named.  He  did  much  to  arrest  and  repair  the  decay 
which  followed  the  war.  In  the  year  1790,  he  was  Moder- 
ator of  the  General  Assembly.  His  bow  yet  abode  in 
strength.  The  wisdom  of  years  was  his,  with  the  zeal  of 
his  youth,  chastened  but  unabated. 


*Robert  Smith  was  born  at  Londonderry.  Ireland,  in  1723.  His 
parents  came  to  tliis  country  in  1730  and  settled  on  the  head  waters 
of  the  Brandywine.  At  the  age  of  fifteen  he  was  converted  under 
the  preaching'  of  Whitcfield.  He  studied  with  Rev.  Samuel  Blair  at 
Jiis  celebrated  academy  at  Fa^g'.s  Manor.  He  was  licensed  by  the 
Presbytery  of  New  Castle,  December  27,  1749,  and  ordained  and  in- 
stalled pastor  of  Pequea  and  Leacock,  March  25,  1751.  At  Pequea  he 
established  a  classical  school,  which  became  very  celebrated  and  was 
largely  resorted  to  by  young  men  from  all  the  adjoining  States,  many 
of  \vhom  became  eminent  in  the  church  and  in  the  State.  He  was 
honored  with  the  degree  of  D.  D.  in  1760,  I)y  the  College  of  New 
Jersey.  Of  his  five  .sons  who  lived  to  maturity,  three  became  minis- 
ters of  the  Gospel,  viz.:  Samuel  Stanhope  Smith,  D.  D.,  President 
of  the  College  of  New  Jersey,  1794-1S12;  John  Blair  Smith,  D.  D.. 
President  of  Hampden  Sydney  from  1779-1791;  pastor  of  tlie  Third 
Church  of  Philadelphia.  1791-1795;  President  of  Union  College,  Schen- 
ectady, 17.95-1798.  William  R.  Smith,  pastor  of  the  Second  Presby- 
terian Church,  of  Wilmington,  Del.,  from  178G  to  1796. 


10  HISTORY    OF    THE    FIRST    PRESBYTERIAN 

At  Chestnut  Level  was  the  Rev.  James  Latta,  D.  D., 
who  has  already  been  mentioned,  who  was  installed  there 
in  November,  1771,  and  continued  until  his  death,  June  29, 
1801,  near  the  close  of  his  68th  year.  Dr.  Latta  was  but 
little  inferior  to  Dr.  Smith  in  learning  or  influence.  His 
salary  at  Chestnut  Level  was  £100,  Pennsylvania  currency, 
which  was  never  increased  and  rarely  all  paid.  To  supple- 
ment it  he  established  an  academy,  which  long  bore  a  high 
reputation.  He  was  a  very  earnest  and  etifective  preacher. 
He  was  Moderator  of  the  Assembly  in  1793. 

At  White  Clay  Creek  and  Red  Clay  Creek,  Rev.  Wil- 
liam AlcKerman  was  pastor,  from  1755  to  1809,  ^  period  of 
fifty-four  years,  during  34  of  which  he  was  also  pastor  of 
the  First  Church,  Wilmington.  At  the  Second  Church, 
Wilmington,  was  Rev.  William  R.  Smith,  1786  to  1796, 
succeeded  in  1798  by  Rev.  Thomas  Read,  D.  D.,  an  able 
and  zealous  man,  an  eloquent  preacher,  who  did  much  to 
resuscitate  the  feeble  and  in  many  cases  the  dying  churches. 
He  was  released  in  1817  and  died  June  14,  1823. 

At  Fagg's  Manor,  1777- 1795,  was  the  Rev.  John  E. 
Finley,  who  removed  to  Kentucky  in  1795,  and  was  suc- 
ceeded by  Rev.  Patrick  Davidson,  1798- 1807. 

At  the  Forks  of  Brandywine,  Rev.  Nathan  Grier, 
was  settled  in  1787,  and  continued  until  his  death,  March 
31,  1814,  aged  54  years.* 

The  Rev.  Nathan  Grier  was  probably  the  most  ac- 
tive and  efificient  of  the  members  of  the  Presbytery  of 
New  Castle,  at  the  time  when  the  first  efforts  were 
made  to  establish  the  cliurch  here  in  West  Chester.  He 
was  then  in  the  prime  of  his  young  manhood,  and  full  of 
zeal  for  the  extension  of  the  Kingdom  of  the  Redeemer. 
His  reputation  for  scholarship  and  pulpit  ability  was  high, 
and  his  influence  widely  extended  throughout  the  Presby- 


*Nathan  Grier  was  born  in  Bucks  county,  and  graduated  at  the 
I'niversity  of  Pennsylvania  in  1783.  Of  his  five  children,  two  sons 
and  three  daughters,  two  became  ministers  of  the  Gospel,  and  two 
the  wives  of  ministers.  The  younger  son.  Rev.  John  N.  C.  Grier. 
D.  D.,  succeeded  his  father,  November  24,  1814,  at  the  Forks  of 
Brandywine,  and  continued  until  April  14,  1869,  a  pastorate  of  fifty- 
five  years. 


CHURCH,   OF   WEST   CHESTER,   PA.  11 

tery  and  Synod.  As  long  as  he  lived  he  continued  to  preach 
as  often  as  possible  in  the  Court  House  here. 

At  Upper  Octorara  and  Doe  Run,  Rev.  Alexander 
Mitchell  was  pastor  1785- 1797,  after  which  they  were  va- 
cant until  181 1.  Rev.  Thomas  Grier  was  pastor  at  Aliddle- 
town  and  Lower  Brandywine,  1801-1809,  and  Rev.  Thomas 
Hindman,  at  New  London,  1790-1791.  At  New  Castle,  Rev. 
Samuel  Barr  was  settled,  1 791 -1796,  and  was  succeeded  by 
Rev.  John  Ewing  Latta  in   1800. 

Such  were  the  men  who  filled  the  pulpits  of  the 
churches  nearest  the  county  seat,  when  the  General  As- 
sembly at  its  first  meetings,  from  1789  onwards,  taking  a 
survey  of  the  whole  field,  called  upon  its  ministers  to  go  up 
and  possess  the  land  for  Christ.  We  are  now  prepared  to 
note  the  steps  taken  in  pursuance  of  the  action  of  the 
Presbytery  referred  to,  in  trying  to  provide  regular  preach- 
ing in  this  then  unoccupied  field. 

In  1786-87,  Samuel  Martin,  then  a  candidate  for  the 
ministry,  was  here  in  West  Chester,  teaching  a  classical 
school,  the  first  school,  probably,  ever  taught  in  this  place, 
and  the  forerunner  of  the  excellent  classical  schools  for 
which  this  county  seat  was  so  long  famous. 

I\Ir.  ^lartin  was  a  native  of  Chestnut  Level,  born  Janu- 
ary 9,  1767,  and  was  a  member  of  the  church  there.  He 
had  pursued  his  preparatory  studies  with  his  pastor,  Rev. 
James  Latta.  and  with  Rev.  Dr.  Robert  Smith,  at  Pecpiea. 
After  teaching  here  in  West  Chester,  he  graduated  at  the 
L'niversity  of  Pennsylvania,  1790.  He  was  ordained  and 
installed,  1793.  at  Slate  Ridge,  York  county,  to  which  five 
3'ears  later  Chanceford  was  added.  In  this  field  he  spent 
the  whole  of  his  ministerial  life,  nearly  fifty  years.  He 
died  June  29,  1845,  aged  78.  Dr.  Martin  was  an  able 
preacher,  and  an  active  and  efficient  presbyter.  It  was  his 
privilege  to  witness  in  1834,  the  organization  of  the  church 
for  which  he  prayed  in  1786. 

It  was  probably  through  his  representations,  during 
his  period  of  teaching  here,  that  Mr.  Latta  requested  the 
Presbytery  to  appoint   supplies.      In   accordance  with   this 


12  HISTORY    OF    THE     FIRST    PRESBYTERIAN 

request,  Rev.  Alexander  Mitchell  was  appointed  to  supply 
on  the  fourth  Sabbath  of  Xovember,  1790;  Rev.  Xathan 
Grier  on  the  second  Sabbath  in  December,  and  Rev.  James 
Latta,  on  the  first  Sabbath  in  April,  1791. 

This  tentati\-e  eiTort  was  encouraging.  At  the  spring- 
meeting  of  the  Presbytery  at  l<"agg"s  Manor,  April  5th, 
1 791,  "application  was  made  by  Air.  Kinnard  in  behalf 
of  the  sundry  inhabitants  of  \\'est  Chester  and  its  vicin- 
ity, in  which  he  requests  that  supplies  may  be  granted 
them  one  Sabbath  in  each  month."  The  Mr.  Kin- 
nard here  named  was  \\'illiam  Kinnard,  the  father  of 
Caleb  and  ^Montgomery  Kinnard.  He  was  a  Presby- 
terian, and  resided  at  that  time  in  East  Bradford,  near 
the  Brandywine.  Of  others  who  joined  in  the  request, 
were  probably  James  Hemphill,  grandfather  of  Airs.  Doc- 
tor Wilmer  Worthington  ;  Colonel  Joseph  McClellan,  who 
was  Sherifif  of  the  county  in  1797,  and  owned  property 
in  West  Chester;  Samuel  Entriken,  living  then  on  the  Wil- 
mington road.  He  was  the  brother  of  Mrs.  Hannah  Good- 
win, one  of  the  original  members  of  this  church,  and  who 
died  June  9,  1861,  aged  89.  She  gave  to  Rev.  Dr.  William 
E.  iVIoore  many  of  the  facts  recorded  of  these  early  days, 
to  whose  care  in  arranging  them  so  carefully  we  are  in- 
debted for  the  record  we  have  before  us. 

The  Presbytery  in  compliance  with  this  request  above 
referred  to,  appointed  Rev.  Alexander  Mitchell  to  preach 
on  the  fourth  Sabbath  of  June,  1791  ;  Rev.  Dr.  Robert 
Smith  on  the  last  Sabbath  of  July ;  Rev.  Samuel  Barr  on  the 
last  Sabbath  in  August;  Rev.  Mr.  Andrews  on  the  second 
Sabbath  in  September,  and  Rev.  Francis  Hindman  on  the 
first  Sabbath  in  October.  These  appointments  were  filled. 
The  result  is  seen  in  the  fact  that  at  the  fall  meeting  of 
the  Presbytery,  "Rew  Dr.  Robert  Smith  made  application 
for  supplies  for  the  A\"est  Chester  congregation." 

It  is  not  to  be  inferred  from  this  that  any  formal  organ- 
ization had  ])een  made.  The  Presbytery  recognized  the 
individuals  who  had  united  to  support  religious  worship 
as  "pro  hac  vice"  a  congregation.     It  had  no  house  of  wor- 


CHURCH,   OP   WEST   CHESTER,   PA.  13 

ship  or  other  property,  and  so  no  need  of  trustees  or  charter. 
It  is,  however,  significant  of  the  purpose  of  the  Presbytery, 
that  it  was  reported  to  the  Assembly  from  1793  to  1802, 
during  all  of  which  time  it  is  probable  it  was  represented 
to  the  Presbytery  by  some  one  in  behalf  of  the  associates. 
As  we  shall  see.  it  was  connected  for  a  time  with  Great 
V'alley  and  Charlestown.  Once  it  is  reported  simply  as  va- 
cant, and  once  in  connection  with  Chatham,  pointing  to  an 
effort  to  establish  a  church  at  that  point,  then  an  important 
station  on  the  Lancaster  and  Newport  turnpike. 

It  is  most  proljable  that  at  this  time  the  only  regular 
religious  service  held  here  in  West  Chester  was  by  the  sup- 
plies of  the  Presbytery.  The  place  of  meeting  was  the 
Court  House.  It  is  natural  to  suppose  that  such  of  the 
inhabitants  as  were  religiously  disposed,  a-nd  not  prevented 
by  scruples  against  a  hireling  ministr}',  would  attend  these 
services.  The  population,  however,  at  this  time  was  small. 
The  borough,  which  was  incorporated  in  March,  1799,  had 
in  1800  a  population  of  three  hundred  and  seventy-four  and 
in  1790  to  1793  it  must  have  been  much  less. 

We  have  seen  that  in  October,  1791,  the  Presbytery 
granted  supplies  for  the  next  six  months.  But  on  the  i8th 
of  October  of  the  same  year,  the  congregation  united  with 
the  churches  of  Great  Valley  and  Charlestown,  which  were 
in  connection  with  the  Presbytery  of  Philadelphia,  in  a  call 
for  the  pastoral  services  of  Rev.  John  Gemmie,  a  licentiate 
of  that  Presbytery. 

How  long  ]Mr.  Gemmie  continued  to  preach  at  West 
Chester  we  have  no  means  of  ascertaining.  Probably,  how- 
ever, more  or  less  regularly  until  1798.  The  next  notice  on 
the  records  of  the  Presbytery  occurs  September  30.  1800. 
"A  petition  came  in  signed  by  a  number  of  persons  in  and 
about  West  Chester,  in  the  County  of  Chester,  recpiesting 
the  Presbytery  to  grant  them  a  supply  once  in  each  month, 
and  that  Rev.  Charles  W^allace  be  the  person  appointed." 
The  request  was  granted.  "]\Ir.  Wallace  was  appointed  to 
supply  at  A\'est  Chester  until  our  next  meeting."  'Sir.  A\'al- 
lace  fulfilled   the   appointment,  and  at   the  spring  meeting 


14  HISTORY    OF    THE     FIRST     PRESBYTERIAN 

of  the  Presbytery  at  Fagg's  Manor,  April  7,  1801,  "West 
Chester  apphed  for  Rev.  Charles  Wallace  for  a  supply  twice 
a  month  for  the  next  six  months."  He  was  accordingly 
"appointed  to  supply  two  Sabbaths  a  month  at  West  Ches- 
ter, agreeably  to  the  request." 

After  this  no  record  of  Presbyterial  action  is  found 
until  1807,  with  the  solitary  exception  of  an  appointment 
for  Rev.  Mr.  Mitchell,  in  March.  1804.  The  efifort,  which 
seemed  so  hopeful  had  failed.  But  we  are  not  to  infer  that 
the  place  was  left  entirely  destitute  of  preaching.  As  often 
as  once  a  month  when  the  roads  were  good,  services  were 
held  in  the  Court  House.  Rev.  William  Latta,  pastor  of 
Great  Valley  Church,  and  Rev.  Nathan  Grier,  pastor  of  the 
Forks  of  the  Brandywine  Church,  were  the  most  frequent 
supplies. 

In  1807,  at  its  spring  meeting.  Presbytery  appointed 
Rev.  John  D.  Perkins  to  supply  the  fourth  Sabbath  in  April ; 
Rev.  Thomas  Grier,  the  second  in  July,  and  Rev.  Nathan 
Grier,  the  first  in  August.  At  the  fall  meeting.  Rev.  Nathan 
Grier  was  appointed  for  the  second  Sabbath  in  November : 
Rev.  Thomas  Grier  for  the  first  in  January,  1808,  and  Rev. 
Thomas  Read,  for  the  first  in  February. 

Thenceforth  until  1831  we  find  no  minute  on  the  rec- 
ords of  the  Presbytery  of  any  supplies  for  West  Chester. 
For  eighteen  years  the  Presbytery  of  New  Castle  had  la- 
l)ored  with  perse\'ering  faith  to  establish  a  church  here. 
Inuring  all  that  period,  1790  to  1808,  no  other  evangelical 
denomination  was  in  the  field. 

The  fullness  of  time  was  not  yet  come.  In  1808  the 
population  could  ha\'e  hardly  exceeded  four  hundred.  It 
was  but  four  hundred  and  seventy-one  in  1810,  the  most  of 
these  in  number  and  influence  were  inclined  to  the  Society 
of  Friends. 

But  though  Presbytery  no  longer  formall}'  appointed 
supplies,  its  members  living  nearest,  continued  to  preach  as 
occasion  ofifered.  \\'hen  the  roads  were  good  there  was 
divine  service  in  the  Court  House,  on  the  average  of  once 
a  month. 


CHURCH.   OF   WEST   CHESTER,   PA.  13 

Rev.  John  Gemmie,  Principal  of  the  Academy  in 
1813-14.  is  known  to  have  preached  here.  Rev.  Nathaniel 
Todd,  Principal  from  1818  to  1822,  preached  frequently 
during  the  whole  period  of  his  residence  here,  but  no  effort 
seems  to  have  been  made  to  establish  a  congregation. 

By  the  year  1830.  the  population  of  the  borough  had 
increased  to  1244.  The  completion  of  the  railroad  from 
Philadelphia  to  Columbia,  rendered  it  practicable  to  con- 
nect West  Chester  with  the  city  by  the  branch  road  jjegun 
in  1831  and  completed  in  1832.  The  original  road  was  laid 
with  yellow  pine  string  pieces  and  strap  rails.  The  motive 
power  was  horses.  Steam  was  introduced  in  1845.  I" 
1829  and  1830,  a  considerable  addition  was  made  to  the 
town  plot  by  William  Everhart,  it  included  most  of  the 
borough  south  of  Market  street  and  west  of  Church.  A 
new  impulse  was  then  given  to  the  growth  of  the  town. 
Price's  school,  long  and  highly  celebrated  was  erected  in 
1830.  The  Mansion  House  was  built  in  1832.  The  con- 
gregations established  here  at  that  time  were  the  Roman 
Catholic,  in  1793;  the  Friends,  in  1812,  who  divided  in 
1827;  and  the  Methodist  Episcopal,  in  1816.  Many  who 
were  not  connected  with  either  of  these  societies  were 
ready  to  co-operate  in  forming  a  Presbyterian  Church.  Of 
members  of  the  Presbyterian  Church  it  is  not  known  that 
there  was  one  among  the  permanent  residents  of  the  bor- 
ough. Gen.  John  ^\^  Cunningham,  Prothonotary  in  1830 
to  1836,  was  ruling  elder  in  the  church  at  New  London, 
and  Robert  Ralston,  Register  of  A\'ills,  1830  to  1833,  Re- 
corder of  Deeds,  1834  to  1836,  was  an  elder  at  Brandywine 
Manor.  But  several  very  prominent  citizens  were  by  de- 
scent or  preference  attached  to  the  doctrines,  worship  and 
polity  of  the  Presbyterian  Church.  Among  these  were  Hon. 
Thomas  S.  Bell,  afterward  one  of  the  Justices  of  the  Supreme 
Court  of  Pennsylvania ;  A\'illiam  H.  Dillingham,  Esq. ; 
Hon.  A\'illiam  Everhart :  Charles  Miner,  editor  of  the  Vil- 
lage Record;  Asher  Miner,  Joseph  Davidson.  Henry 
Fleming.  Esq.,  John  T.  Denny,  Esq.,  Ziba  Pyle,  Esq., 
AMlliam  Williamson,  Esq.,  and  Henry  Van  Amringe,  Esq. 


us  HISTORY    OF    THE    FIRST    PRESBYTERIAN 

At  this  time  William  Augustus  Stevens,  a  licentiate 
of  the  Presbytery  of  Baltimore,  was  led  in  the  providence 
of  God  to  undertake  the  task  of  founding  a  church  here. 
His  first  service  was  held  in  the  old  Court  House,  March 
27,  183 1. 

At  the  meeting  of  the  Presbytery  of  New  Castle,  held 
in  Wilmington,  April  6.  1831,  application  was  made  for  help 
to  establish  here  the  permanent  institutions  of  the  Gospel 
according  to  the  usages  of  the  Presbyterian  Church.  Gen- 
eral Cunningham  was  a  member  of  the  Presbytery,  and  it 
was  probably  he  who  urged  the  application. 

Idle  Presbytery  directed  their  Committee  on  Missions 
"to  recommend  to  the  Poard  of  Missions  of  the  General 
Assembly,  West  Chester  as  a  mission  station,  and  Rev. 
William  A.  Stevens  to  occupy  that  place."  At  the  same 
meeting  of  Presbytery  Mr.  Stevens  was  received  as  a  licen- 
tiate. 

Mr.  Stevens  entered  upon  his  work  at  once.  We  find 
a  notice  in  the  papers  that  he  would  preach  in  the  Court 
House,  April  10,  183 1,  and  thenceforward  the  same  notice 
is  found  weekly.  In  the  early  part  of  1832,  his  labors  were 
interrupted  for  a  time  by  sickness,  but  resumed  on  May 
27.  1832. 

I'rom  the  \ery  first  ]\Ir.  Ste\'ens  was  resolved  to  estab- 
lish a  church  here.  He  did  not  propose  to  exercise  his  gifts 
for  a  time  and  look  for  something  better.  He  would  lay 
the  foundation  of  many  generations.  He  saw  that  a  church 
edifice  was  a  necessity  to  the  permanence  of  his  work.  He 
began  at  once  to  agitate  the  question  of  building. 

The  circumstances  were  propitious.  A  number  of  those 
who  had  recently  settled  here  were  of  Presbyterian  ante- 
cedents. ]\Iany  of  the  most  thoughtful  of  the  citizens  were 
anxiou*;  for  the  establishment  of  a  church  with  an  educated 
and  ])ermanent  ministry.  The  spirit  of  enter])rise  was 
aroused,  and  some  who  were  not  interested  in  the  church 
as  a  spiritual  power  were  wise  to  recognize  its  \'alue  in  pro- 
moting' the   social   and   material   interests  of  the   borough. 


CHURCH,   OF   WEST   CHESTER,   PA.  17 

They  were  willing  to  help  in  building  the  ark  even  if  they 
did  not  propose  to  enter  it. 

By  June  5,  1832,  matters  were  so  far  advanced  that 
"the  contributors  for  the  building  of  a  Presbyterian 
Church"  were  called  to  meet  the  next  evening,  "for  the 
purpose  of  adopting  measures  preparatory  to  building." 
Of  that  meeting  we  have  no  record.  But  work  had  already 
been  begun. 

The  location  of  the  church  had  been  a  matter  of  earnest 
discussion.  Many  desired  the  very  central  position,  north- 
west corner  of  Market  and  Church  streets,  where  the  Ever- 
hart  Block  now  stands.  As  a  compromise,  Mr.  Everhart 
offered  as  a  gift,  an  acre  of  ground  on  the  southwest  of 
the  borough  back  of  where  Portico  Row  now  is.  It  was 
finally  agreed  as  a  more  acceptable  compromise,  to  select 
the  lot  on  which  the  church  now  stands,  and  this  was  pur- 
chased for  the  congregation  by  Ziba  Pyle,  Robert  Ralston 
and  Henry  Fleming.* 

The  location  thus  selected,  now  central  and  convenient, 
was  then  "out  of  town,"  two  squares  beyond  the  side-walks, 
with  not  a  house  south  or  west  of  it  within  the  borough 
limits. 

The  corner  stone  of  the  church  was  laid  on  the  3d  of 
July,  1832,  "in  the  presence  of  a  large  concourse  of  citizens." 
A  statement  was  made  by  William  H.  Dillingham,  Esq., 
chairman  of  the  Building  Committee,  explaining  the  plan, 
resources,  views  and  objects  of  the  congregation.  We 
have  a  few  extracts  from  his  address :  "This  stone,"  he 
said,  "is  laid  in  no  sectarian  spirit,  with  no  proselyting 
views.  We  believe  that  religion  is  essential  to  the  very  ex- 
istence of  society,  and  that  without  it  men  would  soon  be- 
come a  prey  to  their  own  bad  passions,  and  civilization  be 
driven  from  the  earth.     However  any  of  us  may  come  short 


♦This  lot,  S4  feet  on  Miner  by  145  on  Darlington,  was  purchased 
of  Cheyney  Hannum  for  four  hundred  and  twenty  dollars.  It  was 
bought  by  Cheyney  Hannum,  April  IS,  1829.  of  William  Everhart, 
being  a  part  of  the  "Wollerton  Farm."  The  deed  to  Ziba  Pyle  et  al., 
trustee,  is  dated  July  27,  1S32.  and  is  recorded  in  Deed  Book  F4,  vol. 
123,  under  date  of  July  28.  1832.  It  was  enlarged  by  the  purchase  May 
24.  1853.  of  the  lot  adjoining,  30  feet  on  Miner  street,  on  which  the 
chapel  now  stands. 


IS  HISTORY    OF    THE    FIFIST    PRESBYTEUTAN 

in  the  profession  or  practice  of  it,  with  humility  be  it 
spoken,  there  are  none  but  feel  and  recognize  its  blessings. 
Whoever  has  seen  a  house  of  worship  erected,  a  Christian 
church  established,  and  piety  to  God  successfully  cultivated, 
has  seen  wholesome  virtues  and  worldly  prosperity  spring 
up  around  it.  There  he  has  seen  the  man  who  loves  his 
neighbor  as  himself,  the  woman  who  looks  well  to  the  ways 
of  her  own  household,  the  child  who  honors  its  parents,  the 
people  who  respect  those  in  authority,  the  magistrate  ruling 
in  the  fear  of  God,  and  there  he  has  seen  the  approving 
smile  of  Heaven  upon  the  works  of  men's  hands.  *  =•'  ■■' 
"Other  sects  have  done  their  part,  it  remains  for  us  to 
do  ours.  The  two  meeting  houses  of  the  Society  of  Friends, 
the  Methodist  meeting  house,  and  the  Catholic  chapel  are 
the  only  houses  of  public  worship.  The  Society  of  Baptists 
have  a  meeting  house  within  two  miles,  while  the  nearest 
Presbyterian  Church  is  ten  miles  from  the  borough.  There 
are  but  eight  places  of  worship  of  our  particular  sect,  in 
this  large  and  populous  county.  We  desire  to  worship  God 
after  the  manner  of  our  fathers,  to  give  public  testimonial 
in  honor  of  the  faith  in  which  we  were  educated,  and  to 
srive  some  assurance  that  our  children  shall  become  useful 
members  of  society.       *       *       *       * 

"The  building  is  to  be  of  stone  rough  cast,  seventy-five 
feet  long  by  forty-five  wide,  and  twenty-three  feet  high. 
It  is  calculated  to  seat  five  hundred  people  on  the  ground 
fioor,  and  galleries  can  hereafter  be  erected  to  accommodate 
three  hundred  more  if  occasion  should  require.  The  foun- 
dation will  be  a  few  feet  above  the  pavement,  and  a  suffi- 
cient excavation  has  been  made  to  admit  of  a  basement 
storv.  The  architecture  is  Grecian  in  good  taste,  and  there 
is  to  be  a  cupola  if  our  funds  will  admit  of  it,  seventy-three 
feet  in  height  from  the  ground.  The  estimated  cost,  as  we 
propose  now  to  finish  it,  is  five  thousand  dollars.  Of  this 
sum  three  thousand  is  already  subscribed,  twenty-one  hun- 
dred of  it  in  this  borough,  two  hundred  in  other  parts  of  the 
county,  seven  hundred  in  the  city  of  Philadelphia.  We  are 
encouraged  to  hope  that  we  shall  be  able  to  raise  the  bal- 


CHURCH,    OP   WEST   CHESTER,   PA.  19 

ance  before  the  building  is  completed.  The  work  is  to  be 
commenced  immediately  and  prosecuted  vigorously,  will  be 
covered  in  this  fall,  and  finished  in  less  than  a  year." 

The  document  to  be  deposited  in  the  corner  stone  was 
read  by  Thomas  S.  Bell,  Esq.,  and  "the  blessing  of  God  in- 
voked by  Rev.  Mr.  Stevens." 

The  following  is  a  copy  of  the  paper  put  in  the  corner 
stone : 

"On  Tuesday,  July  3rd,  1832,  this  corner  stone  of  the 
Presbyterian  Church,  was  laid  by  Rev.  William  A.  Stevens, 
ofifitiating  Presbyterian  clergyman  of  this  borough,  at- 
tended by 

"Building  Committee — William  H.  Dillingham,  Asher 
Miner,  Joseph  Davidson,  Henry  Fleming,  Thomas  S.  Bell. 

"Architect — Thomas  Ustick  Walter. 

"Carpenters — David  Haines  and  James  Powell. 

"Stone  Mason — Eli  Pyle. 

"Corresponding  Committee — Rev.  William  A.  Stevens, 
Thomas  S.  Bell,  John  W.  Cunningham,  William  H.  Dilling- 
ham. 

"Collecting  Committee — William  Everhart,  John  Cun- 
ningham, Robert  Ralston,  John  T.  Denney. 

"Trustees — Ziba  Pyle,  Robert  Ralston,  Henry  Fleming. 

"Population  of  West  Chester,  fifteen  hundred." 

A  copy  of  the  names  of  the  subscribers  was  also  en- 
closed. Until  recently  it  was  thought  there  was  no  other 
list  in  existence. 

A  short  time  after  the  celebration  of  the  seventy-fifth 
anniversary  of  the  organization  of  this  church,  it  was 
learned  that  Samuel  Marshall,  Esq.,  of  West  Chester,  had 
discovered  among  some  old  papers  in  his  office  what  is 
manifestly  the  official  copy  of  the  subscriptions  made  for 
the  erection  of  the  church  building.  It  contains  all  the 
nances  of  subscribers  not  onl}^  in  West  Chester,  but  in 
Philadelphia,  Harrisburg,  Coatesville  and  vicinity,  New 
London,  The  Rocks  and  Pencader,  East  Whiteland  and 
vicinity,  scattering  subscriptions,  Brandywine  and  vicinity 
and  Newark  and  vicinity. 


29  HISTORY    OF    THE    FIRST    PRESBYTERIAN 

This  list  gives  all  the  names,  the  amount  subscribed  by 
each  one,  the  amount  collected,  and  by  whom  collected ;  the 
amount  uncollected,  the  amount  uncollected  and  available, 
the  amount  uncollected  and  supposed  to  be  unavailable,  and 
the  amount  payable  in  materials.  All  these  are  in  separate 
columns,  and  every  item  is  most  carefully  carried  out  and 
the  whole  is  summarized  for  a  complete  report. 

Air.  Marshall  has  turned  this  valuable  document  over 
to  the  church  to  be  carefully  preserved  for  future  genera- 
tions.* 

The  work  of  building,  however,  went  on  more  slowly 
than  was  expected.  It  was  not  covered  in  until  the  summer 
of  1833,  and  not  before  January,  1834.  was  it  in  a  condition 
to  be  occupied  for  public  worship.  The  cost  exceeded  the 
estimate  and  funds  came  in  slowly.  The  building,  however, 
was  erected  in  the  most  substantial  manner.  But  meantime 
much  earnest  and  efficient  work  had  been  done  toward  the 
rearing  of  the  spiritual  temple.  Preaching  services  were 
held  regularly  in  the  Court  House,  and  meetings  for  prayer 
from  house  to  house. 


*Tlic  subscribers  in  Wcsf  Chester  arc  as  foUows:  William  Ever- 
hart,  W.  H.  Dillingham,  T.  S.  Bell,  A.  and  C.  Miner,  Ziba  Pyle,  Isaac 
Darlington,  Isaac  Thomas,  David  Townsend,  H.  H.  VanAmringe,  Dr. 
W.  Darlington.  Owen  Stover,  John  Barber,  Wm.  Williamson,  W. 
Apple,  Wm.  Winterbottom,  John  Tweddle,  Thos.  Williamson,  George 
Brinton.  John  B.  Brinton,  Jesse  Kerns,  Jos.  I.  Lewis.  Jos.  Hemphill, 
Jr..  Geo.  Meredith.  Outten  D.  Jester,  Wilmer  Worthington,  Robert 
Ralston,  L.  W.  Williams,  James  Tillum,  Joseph  Jones.  John  T.  Haines, 
Nimrod  Strickland,  E.  A.  Maginess,  Jesse  McCall.  Townsend  Haines, 
John  Marshall,  Wm.  Davis,  Peter  Osborne,  John  Burns,  Robert  Irwin, 
David  Carr,  Jacob  Keemble,  Robert  Matlaek,  John  Hall,  Marshall 
James,  James  Mendenhall,  Jos.  Townsend  (shoemaker),  Parmenio  L. 
Phillips,  Jacob  Entriken,  l*^.  V.  Pennypacker.  Edward  Shields.  William 
Mercer,  Seneca  Warner,  Thos.  Ogden,  Ed.  E.  Collins.  Elizabeth  Good, 
B.  Turner,  John  Ingraham,  H.  T.  JefEeris,  R.  B.  Dodson,  Eber  Worth- 
ington, Isaac  Worthington.  Cheyney  Hannum.  Jas.  A.  Hemphill.  I.  R. 
M.  Bicking,  Granville  S.  Jefferis,  Thomas  Garrett,  William  Miller, 
E.  Goulcher,  A.  McKay,  Wm.  Reid,  Jos.  Davidson,  John  AVhite,  Richard 
Evans,  John  R.  Pierce,  Jacob  Binder,  John  H.  Sweney.  John  Miller, 
John  McGinley,  Chas.  Sink,  Thomas  Sweney,  P.  Frazer  Smith,  Cheyney 
Jefferis,  W'llliam  Adle.  Jos.  1.  Townsend,  Francis  Hickman.  Robert 
Mercer,  David  B.  Reed,  Thos.  Powell,  James  Davis,  John  T.  Denny, 
Joseph  Hickman.  Sam'l  C.  Greene.  Enos  Smedley.  John  C.  G.  Rauch, 
John  H.  Brinton,  Olof  Stromberg,  Samson  Babb,  Henry  Fleming, 
Daniel  Buckwalter.  Daniel  Fuller.  Oliver  Alison,  Harriet  Work,  E.  S. 
Price,  Ab'm  Williams,  Wm.  Wickersham.  Geo.  Fisher,  E.  Bradley, 
.John  James,  Wm.  Lent.  Y.  Miles,  Jesse  Turner,  Robert  Fielding,  S. 
Augee,  John  Rutter,  Mrs.  Haslet,  Samuel  Way,  John  D.  Pettit.  Eli 
Pyle,  Warner  Bennett.  Wm.  Bennett.  David  Haines,  James  Powell, 
Eusebius  Townsend.  Joseph  H.  Brinton.  Added  to  the  list  after  the 
total  amount  of  the  above  had  been  given,  was  a  subscripton  of  fifty 
dollars,  "Subscription  of  a  Friend  put  into  the  hands  of  A.  Miner. 
Dr.  J.  E." 


CHURCH.    OF    WEST    CHESTER.    PA. 


All".  Stevens  was  ordained  as  an  evangelist  by  the  Pres- 
bytery of  New  Castle.  December  5,  1832,  but  it  was  not 
deemed  expedient  to  organize  the  church  until  the  house 
should  be  ready  for  use.  Indeed  at  the  date  of  Mr.  Stevens' 
ordination  it  is  not  probable  that  material  for  organization 
could  he  found.  A  Sabbath  School  Society  was  formed 
July  22,  1832.  Air.  Stevens  was  chairman  of  the  meeting. 
The  preamble  tersely  states  its  aim.  "With  a  single  eye  to 
the  glory  of  God,  and  a  desire  to  promote  the  welfare  of  our 
fellow  beings,  we  whose  names  are  hereunto  affixed  do  form 
ourselves  into  a  society  for  the  religious  and  moral  instruc- 
tion of  children  and  adults." 

The  members  subscribing  were:  Joseph  A.  Davidson, 
Henry  S.  Evans,  John  T.  Denny,  Charles  Sink,  Christian 
K.  Ralston,  Sarah  Ann  Duval,  Ann  Maginness,  John  Neill, 
Henry  Webber,  John  Watson,  Isaac  J.  Riter,  Lucretia 
Fleming,  Ellen  E.  Miner,  Anna  Mar}^  Townsend,  Charlotte 
Miner,  Hannah  Jones,  Mary  Ann  Thompson,  Anna  Thomp- 
son, A.  J.  Lewis,  Cornelius  O'Callaghan,  Robert  Ralston, 
Rachel  A.  Noble,  Mary  Truman,  Carolina  Haslett,  Ann  M. 
Ilaslett,  Alary  Ann  Haslett,  Jeanette  Haslett,  Alaria  L. 
Haslett,  Elizabeth  Smith,  Eliza  Entriken,  George  W.  Gal- 
lagher, Franklin  S.  Alills,  Peter  Gite,  John  H.  Brinton, 
William  P.  Townsend,  John  AIcGinley,  Joseph  Hemphill, 
Jr.,  Mary  Sink,  Catherine  A-IcGinley,  P.  Frazer  Smith,  Asher 
Miner,  Elizabeth  Worthington,  Henry  C.  Fulmer,  Rachel 
Townsend,  Wilmer  Worthington,  M.  D.,  William  White- 
head, Addison  Alay,  James  Hutchinson,  Rebecca  Thomp- 
son, William  Wheeler,  Henry  Fleming,  Esther  Williamson, 
Aliriam  Pyle,  William  Everhart,  John  Marshall,  Alalinda 
Marshall,  Edward  M.  Bartlett,  Alary  Ann  Harris,  Thomas 
S.  Bell,  Kezia  Bell,  Catherine  L.  Darlington  and  Stephen 
Harris,  AI.  D.  Its  first  officers  chosen,  July  2y,  1832,  were: 
President,  Joseph  A.  Davidson ;  Vice  President,  H.  S. 
Evans ;  Corresponding  Secretary,  John  F.  Denny ;  Secre- 
tary, Charles  Sink;  Treasurer,  Lucretia  Fleming;  Librarian, 
Christian  K.  Ralston.  July  26,  1833 :  Superintendent, 
Charles  Sink;  President,  Henry  Fleming,  Esq.;  Vice  Presi- 


22  HISTORY    OF    THE    FIRST    PRESBYTERIAN 

dent,  Joseph  Hemphill,  Jr. ;  Secretary,  John  H.  Brmton ; 
Corresponding  Secretary,  William  P.  Townsend;  Treasurer, 
Henry  Webber.  The  officers  in  1834  were:  Superintend- 
ent, P.  Frazer  Smith ;  President,  Dr.  Wilmer  Worthington ; 
Vice  President,  Charles  Sink;  Librarian,  William  Webber. 
July  7,  1835,  Dr.  Wilmer  Worthington  became  Superin- 
tendent, Mr.  Smith  having  resigned.  A  report  made  in  the 
fall  of  this  year  tells  us  that  "the  number  of  regular  attend- 
ants is  from  forty  to  fifty.  On  the  register,  ninety-seven. 
Of  the  scholars,  two  classes,  one  male  and  one  female,  are 
colored.  Number  of  teachers,  four  males  and  eight  females, 
all  except  three  of  the  females  professors  of  religion  and 
members  of  the  Presbyterian  Church."  The  falling  off  from 
1834  is  due  chiefly  to  its  having  become  distinctively  a  de- 
nominational school,  and  its  removal  to  the  church. 

At  the  beginning  of  this  Sabbath  School  effort,  the 
Society  connected  itself  with  the  American  Sunday  School 
Union.  It  held  its  school  at  first  in  the  lecture  room  of  the 
academy,  and  afterward  successively  in  the  hall  afterward 
known  as  the  Village  Record  Building,  on  Church  street, 
between  Market  and  Gay,  and  then  in  the  Court  House. 
It  was  not  denominational,  but  most  of  its  members  were  of 
those  who  afterward  Ijecame  members  or  worshipers  in 
the  Presbyterian  Church  when  organized.  This  Society 
and  its  schools  were  the  first  formal  fruit  of  Mr.  Stevens' 
labors  here.  In  1833  the  school  was  removed  to  the  Pres- 
byterian Church,  "in  consequence  of  the  sale  of  the  hall, 
and  a  resolution  of  the  County  Commissioners  forbidding 
the  use  of  the  Court  House  for  any  religious  purpose  unless 
upon  the  payment  of  one  dollar  for  each  day,  which  the 
funds  of  the  association  would  not  warrant."  During  the 
winter  of  1833  and  1834,  an  extensive  revival  took  place 
under  the  ministrations  of  Mr.  Stevens.  The  report  of  the 
Society,  April  29,  1834,  shows,  that  of  twenty-two  teachers 
in  the  school,  seventeen  had  united  with  the  church.  Of 
pupils,  they  report  one  hundred  and  two  females  and  sixty- 
two  males,  "none  of  whom,  however,  had  professed  their 
faith  in  Christ." 


CHURCH,    OF    WEST    CHESTER,    PA.  23 

Public  worship  was  held  in  the  church  for  the  first  time 
on  the  first  Sabbath  in  January,  1834.  Its  completion  had 
been  delayed  for  want  of  funds,  and  now  its  unpainted 
pews,  and  unfinished  gallery,  and  temporary  steps,  gave 
evidence  of  the  straits  of  the  congregation.  The  cupola, 
which  was  to  crown  it,  remains  to  this  day  a  vision  of  the 
future. 

But  the  spiritual  house  about  to  be  founded  was  full 
of  promise.  On  Saturday,  January  nth,  1834,  the  Com- 
mittee of  Presbytery,  appointed  to  organize  the  church, 
met  for  that  purpose.  It  consisted  of  Rev.  Robert  Graham, 
Rev.  Dr.  James  Alagraw,  Rev.  William  Finney,  Rev.  Wil- 
liam A.  Stevens,  with  Gen.  John  W.  Cunningham  and 
Robert  Ralston  as  ruling  elders. 

The  original  minutes,  in  the  handwriting  of  Mr. 
Stevens,  tell  us  that  "certificates  of  dismission  and  recom- 
mendation from  other  churches  were  received  from  the 
following  individuals,  viz. :  Stephen  Harris,  AI.  D.,  Thomas 
Hutchison,  Charles  Sink,  Robert  Ralston,  Edward  Bart- 
lett,  John  Marsh,  Mary  Ann  Harris,  Elizabeth  Smith,  Jane 
Burns,  Eliza  Marsh,  Mary  Ann  Sink,  Mary  Ralston,  Ann 
Bartlett,  Mary  Smith,  Alartha  Smith,  Anna  Haslett,  Mary 
Ann  Haslett,  John  White  and  Plannah  White;  nineteen 
in  all. 

The  following  were  received  upon  examination  as  to 
their  acquaintance  with  the  doctrines  of  the  church  and 
experimental  religion,  viz. :  Henr}^  Fleming,  James  T. 
Beaumont,  P.  F.  Smith,  George  W.  Gallagher,  Henry 
Webber,  William  Everhart,  John  Todd,  Asher  Miner,  Mary 
Fairlamb,  Hannah  Everhart,  Elizabeth  Everhart,  Elizabeth 
Worthington,  Anna  Thompson,  Mary  Ann  Thompson, 
Hannah  Goodv/in,  Christiana  Ralston,  Lucretia  Fleming, 
Caroline  Fleming,  Ellen  E.  Miner,  Charity  Babb,  Martha 
Taylor.  William  Taylor,  William  AVhitchead,  Susan  Webb, 
Mary  Ann  Ingram,  Hester  Goodwin,  Catherine  Young, 
Hannah  Winterbottom,  Letitia  Fleming,  Elizabeth  Good, 
Rebecca  Thompson,  Peninah  Long,  Hannah  liutchison — 
thirty-three.     Making  in  all  fifty-two. 


24  HISTORY    OP    THE    FIRST    PRESBYTERIAN 

The  ntembers  of  the  church  recognizing  their  dis- 
tinctive character,  as  composing  a  part  of  the  Presbyterian 
body  of  Christians,  adopted  the  following  article  of  agree- 
ment:  "We  do  hereby  receive  and  adopt  the  Confession 
of  Faith  of  the  Presbyterian  Church,  as  containing  the  sys- 
tem of  doctrine  taught  in  the  Holy  Scriptures,  together 
with  the  discipline  and. form  of  government." 

The  church  constituted  by  the  reception  of  these  mem- 
bers chose  as  elders,  Dr.  Stephen  Harris,  Thomas  Hutchi- 
son, Charles  Sink,  Robert  Ralston,  Henry  Fleming  and  P. 
F.  Smith. 

At  the  close  of  the  afternoon  service  on  Saturday,  the 
nth,  the  committee  ordained  Messrs.  Fleming  and  Sink, 
the  others,  with  the  exception  of  Mr.  Smith,  having  been 
previously  ordained.  Mr.  Smith  preferred  that  his  ordina- 
tion l)e  jjostponed  for  the  present.  With  this  exception 
the  newly  chosen  elders  were  installed,  Rev.  Robert  Gra- 
ham delivering  the  charge  to  the  elders,  and  Dr.  Magraw 
delivering  the  charge  to  the  congregation.  On  Sabbath 
morning  the  ordinance  of  baptism  was  administered  to 
fourteen  of  those  who  had  joined  on  profession  of  their 
faith,  and  the  newly-constituted  church  sat  down  together 
for  the  first  time  at  the  table  of  their  Lord. 

The  occasion  brought  together  many  from  other 
churches,  so  that  about  seventy  are  said  to  have  shared  in 
their  first  communion.  Nothing  is  said  in  the  record  of  any 
formal  dedication  of  the  house.  Naturally  enough  the 
heart  of  the  pastor  was  full  of  the  more  glorious  consecra- 
tion of  the  living  temple  to  the  work  and  service  of  Jehovah. 

Not  often  is  success  so  speedily  vouchsafed  to  a  minis- 
ter of  the  gospel.  Less  than  three  years  before,  Mr. 
Stevens  entered  on  his  work  as  a  licentiate,  with  but  little 
experience,  in  a  community  whose  permanent  residents  fur- 
nished but  few  members  of  the  church  he  sought  to  estab- 
lish. The  congregation  he  would  gather  had  no  home  of  its 
own.  Now  he  stands  at  the  table  of  the  Lord  in  a  house 
reared  largely  by  his  labors,  to  administer  the  ordinance  to 
more  than  fifty  communicants,  three-fifths  of  whom  owned 


CHURCH.    OF    WEST    CHESTER.    PA. 


him  for  their  spiritual  father.  The  victor  on  the  battlefield 
can  know  no  such  joy  as  fills  the  heart  of  the  pastor  when 
God  gives  him  souls  for  his  hire.  The  warrior's  greenest 
wreath  shall  wither  on  his  brow ;  the  pastor's  crown  shall 
grow  brighter  as  the  years  of  eternity  roll.  "They  that  turn 
many  to  righteousness  shall  shine  as  the  stars  forever  and 
ever." 

The  services  in  connection  with  the  organization  were 
protracted  until  the  15th  of  January.  At  the  close,  on  invi- 
tation given,  twenty-four  are  said  to  have  gone  forward  to 
testify  by  this  act  their  purpose  to  serve  God. 

On  the  first  of  March,  Henry  H.  VanAmringe,  James 
Hutchison,  William  Apple,  Samuel  Howard,  James  Jack- 
son, Miriam  Pyle.  Hester  Williamson,  Rhoda  W.  Smith, 
Rachel  Ann  Noble,  Evelina  A.  Burns,  Sidney  Weaver, 
Elizabeth  Haslett  and  Elizabeth  Beaumont,  were  received 
by  examination,  and  Mr.  Kinsey  and  Agnes  Reed  by  cer- 
tificate. 

On  the  31st  of  May,  Sarah  Weaver  was  received  by 
examination,  making  the  entire  number  received,  twenty- 
one  by  certificate,  and  forty-seven  by  profession  of  their 
faith  in  Christ. 

A  charter  was  obtained  January  15th,  1834,  from  the 
Supreme  Court,  incorporating  the  congregation  under  the 
title  of  "The  First  Presbyterian  Church  of  the  Borough  of 
West  Chester."  Under  this  charter,  at  an  election  held 
January,  17,  1834,  Henry  Fleming,  Thomas  S.  Bell  and 
William  H.  Dillingham,  were  chosen  trustees  to  serve  for 
three  years;  Joseph  Smith,  Asher  Miner  and  Thomas 
Hutchison,  for  two  years;  P.  Frazer  Smith,  H.  H.  Van- 
Amringe and  Wilmer  Worthington,  M.  D.,  for  one  year. 
On  the  first  of  February  a  public  letting  of  the  pews  took 
place.  Twelve  pews  were  let  at  twenty  dollars  each  ;  nine, 
at  fifteen  dollars;  eleven,  at  twelve  dollars;  four  and  one- 
half,  at  ten  dollars,and  one  and  a  half,  at  five  dollars ; 
making  a  revenue  of  five  hundred  and  fifty-nine  dollars  and 
fifty  cents ;  leaving  thirty-six  pews  of  the  eighty-four,  un- 
rented.     Pew   number  forty-two   was   appropriated   to   the 


26  HISTORY    OP    THE    FIRST    PRESBYTERIAN 

pastor  of  the  church.  /\t  the  rate  proposed,  all  the  pews, 
if  rented,  would  yield  one  thousand  one  hmidred  and  four- 
teen dollars. 

A  statement  of  the  affairs  of  the  congregation,  Feb- 
ruary 4th,  shows  the  indebtedness  incurred  in  erecting  the 
church,  to  be  one  thousand  nine  hundred  and  fifty-two  dol- 
lars and  twenty-nine  cents,  which  was  fiuided  and  secured 
by  mortgage.     Ziba  Pyle  was  elected  treasurer. 

At  a  meeting  held  to  fix  the  salary  of  the  minister, 
February  24th,  it  was  resolved  "that  after  the  interest  on 
the  debt  on  the  church,  say  one  hundred  and  twenty  dollars, 
shall  have  been  paid  out  of  the  pew  rents,  that  the  balance 
of  the  pew  rents  shall  be  appropriated  to  pay  the  pastor's 
salary,  provided  that  the  salary  shall  not  exceed  in  any  one 
year  the  sum  of  eight  hundred  dollars." 

THE  FIRST  PASTOR— REV.  WM.  A.  STEVENS. 

On  the  third  of  March,  1834,  a  unanimous  call  was  ex- 
tended to  Rev.  William  A.  Stevens  to  become  the  pastor 
of  the  church,  promising  the  salary  provided  for  above.  It 
marks  the  faith  of  both  parties,  that  no  provision  is  made 
looking  to  the  possibility  of  its  being  less.  The  call  was 
put  into  the  hands  of  ]\Ir.  Stevens  by  the  Presbytery,  April 
I,  1834,  and  was  formally  accepted.  The  Presbytery  ap- 
pointed a  committee  of  installation  to  meet  in  West  Chester 
on  the  last  Friday  in  May,  at  7.30  p.  m.  Mr.  Stevens  was 
installed  as  appointed.  May  30,  1834,  Rev.  Robert  White, 
Rev.  John  N.  C.  Grier  and  Rev.  John  M.  Dickey  officiating. 
On  the  same  page  of  the  record,  which  contains  the  report 
of  the  installation,  is  found  this  brief  minute,  "Rev.  William 
A.  Stevens  was  removed  by  death,  October  3,  1834." 

The  Sabbath  next  after  his  installation  was  the  com- 
munion. At  the  close  of  the  services,  Mr.  Stevens  remarked 
to  a  friend  that  he  considered  his  life  work  chiefly  done. 
It  proved  to  be  so.  A  single  Sabbath  at  home,  then  came 
the  sickness,  not  at  first  alarming,  which  was  to  end  his 
life. 


CHURCH.    OF    WEST    CHESTER,    PA. 


The  record  of  the  session  is :  "The  Rev.  WilHam  A. 
Stevens,  the  pastor  of  this  church,  departed  this  hfe  on 
Frida}^,  October  3,  1834,  at  the  residence  of  Hon.  David 
Potts,  Warwick  Furnace,  Chester  county,  aged  2^  years. 
His  remains  were  interred  in  the  burial  ground  belonging 
to  the  church,  on  the  succeeding  Sabbath  at  four  o'clock, 
attended  by  his  congregation  and  a  large  number  of  the 
citizens  of  West  Chester." 

The  body  of  Mr.  Stevens  was  originally  interred  as 
stated  above,  in  the  burial  ground  of  the  church,  then  sit- 
uated on  the  south  side  of  Barnard  street,  west  of  New.  As 
recently  as  1853,  the  whole  block  bounded  by  Barnard, 
New,  Union  and  Wayne,  was  occupied  by  the  cemeteries 
of  the  respective  churches,  in  the  following  order  beginning 
on  Barnard  street,  viz.:  Baptist,  Presbyterian,  Methodist 
and  Episcopal.  Not  long,  however,  after  his  death,  the 
body  was  removed  to  the  yard  of  the  church  where  it  re- 
mained for  many  years,  and  was  then  transferred  to  Oak- 
lands  Cemetery,  where  it  now  lies.  At  that  time  the  grave 
was  in  a  line  with  the  pulpit  window,  beside  the  church  on 
Darlington  street.  A  simple  and  beautiful  tablet  marks 
the  place  of  burial. 

Thus  in  the  short  space  of  three  years  and  a  half  the 
ministerial  life  of  Mr.  Stevens  was  completed.  His  best 
and  most  enduring  monument  is  this  church.  At  his  death 
it  numbered  sixty-eight  members.  He  left  behind  him  the 
reputation  of  a  faithful  servant  of  God,  blameless,  cour- 
ageous and  devoted  to  his  high  calling.  His  memory  lives 
as  a  blessed  legacy  in  the  community  in  which  his  life's 
work  was  so  quickly  and  so  well  done. 

Mr.  Stevens  was  born  at  Compton,  Talbot  county,  Md., 
April  9,  1807.  His  father,  Hon.  Samuel  Stevens,  was  three 
times  elected  Governor  of  Maryland,  and  bore  through  life 
the  reputation  of  an  honorable  and  upright  man.  His 
mother,  a  daughter  of  Robert  May,  Esq.,  of  Chester  county, 
was  a  sister  of  Addison  May  Esq.  She  was  an  eminently 
pious  woman,  and  to  her  prayers  and  counsels  we  must 
ascribe   in   cfreat   measure   the   character   of  her  son.      Mr. 


2S  HISTORY    OF    THE    FIRST    PRESBYTERIAN 

Stevens'  early  education  was  at  home  under  private  tutors. 
In  his  seventeenth  year  he  entered  Jefferson  College,  and 
soon  became  a  subject  of  the  revival  prevailing  there.  His 
plans  of  life  were  changed,  and  he  at  once  set  his  heart 
upon  the  ministry  and  shaped  his  studies  to  that  end. 
After  graduating  at  Jefferson,  Mr.  Stevens  studied  one  year 
at  Yale,  and  then  entered  the  Theological  Seminary  at 
Princeton.  After  his  licensure  he  preached  for  a  brief  pe- 
riod on  the  eastern  shore  of  Maryland.  Then  for  a  short 
time  he  preached  in  Norristown.  In  March,  1831,  he  came 
here. 

In  person  Mr.  Stevens  was  of  medium  size,  some  five 
feet  nine  inches  in  height,  and  inclined  to  corpulency  at  the 
time  of  his  majority.  "His  delivery  was  pronounced  excel- 
lent by  all.  His  sermons  were  always  written  and  com- 
mitted to  memory,  and  generally  short."  One  of  his  ser- 
mons remains  as  a  possession  of  the  church. 

From  an  obituary  notice  published  at  the  time  of  his 
death,  and  preserved  all  these  years  by  Mrs.  Martha  May 
Rothrock,  whose  father  was  Mr.  Stevens'  uncle,  and  who 
lives  here  in  West  Chester  to  witness  this  seventy-fifth  an- 
niversary, the  following  is  quoted: 

"Air.  Stevens  had  but  four  short  months  before  been 
installed  pastor  of  the  church  by  the  Presbytery  of  New 
Castle,  to  which  he  Ijelonged,  and  had  preached  but  one 
Sabbath  afterwards,  when  the  symptoms  of  declining 
health  induced  him  to  relinquish  his  labors  and  try  the 
effect  of  traveling  and  relaxation.  His  place  was  supplied 
by  the  Rev.  Elias  P.  Ely,  who  had  but  just  completed  a  two- 
months  term  of  labor  for  his  Master,  when  he  returned  to 
Connecticut  to  die  at  the  paternal  mansion,  thus  preceding 
a  few  days  our  departed  brother,  who  has  now  followed 
him  to  the  land  of  silence.  How  transporting  their  inter- 
view beyond  the  cold  Jordan  they  have  now  both  passed! 
"Finding  his  health  but  little  improved  by  the  jaunt,  he 
returned  from  the  Springs,  in  New  York,  and  after  languish- 
ing for  two  months  in  West  Chester  and  vicinity,  flattered 
f;ccasionally  with  some  apparent  change  for  the  better,  he 


CHURCH,    OF    WEST    CHESTER,    PA.  29 

ceased  to  breathe  on  the  morning  of  the  3rd  instant,  at  the 
house  of  a  relation,  at  Warwick  Furnace.  *  *  '''  He 
was  a  scholar  well  trained,  a  soldier  well  equipped  for  the 
work  of  the  ministry.  The  sweetly  persuasive  accents  of 
his  silvery  tongue,  and  the  well  digested  thoughts  which 
he  gave  forth  from  the  sacred  desk  *  "•'  *  and  the 
softening  mellow  impression  still  remains.  Mr.  Stevens 
was  certainly  peculiarly  gifted.  His  mind  was  of  a  fine 
mold,  accurate,  clear,  elevated  and  comprehensive — care- 
less of  detail,  but  adapted  to  seize  hold  of  the  prominent 
points  of  a  subject  and  present  them  in  bold  relief  for 
practical  efl'ect.  The  beautiful  rather  than  the  sublime  was 
his  element.  There  was  chasteness  in  his  conceptions,  and 
a  polish  in  his  diction.  There  was  a  certain  fascination  in 
his  address,  which,  while  it  suppressed  levity,  won  atten- 
tion and  fixed  impression.  He  was  not  impassioned,  but 
pathetic ;  not  illogical,  yet  not  abstract.  Argumentative 
when  he  chose,  but  pleasing  and  winning  even  when  com- 
pelled to  controvert. 

"He  was,  as  a  man,  possessed  of  a  versatility  of  talent 
Avhich  had  the  property  of  rendering  him  companionable 
to  all,  to  the  extent  of  becoming  'all  things  to  all  men,'  for 
the  purpose  of  winning  some.  He  knew,  however,  where 
to  set  just  bounds,  and  to  shun  the  unwholesome  influences 
arising  from  too  much  familiarity  with  the  things  of  the 
world.  He  was,  in  his  days  of  best  health,  possessed  of 
fine  manly  form,  ruddy,  robust  and  rather  commanding, 
but  withal  delicate,  and  as  the  event  proved,  unsound.  * 
'■'  *  To  his  people  he  was  endeared  as  a  man  of  God 
who  toiled  and  prayed  and  sought  after  their  good,  and  he 
was  entwined  about  their  hearts  by  tenderest  cords.  The 
tear  involuntarily  starts  from  the  writer's  eye  when  he  re- 
calls the  frequent  expressions  of  brotherly,  motherly,  ten- 
der regard  which  have  fallen  from  their  lips  in  his  hearing, 
when  speaking  of  their  pastor.  Prayer  without  ceasing 
was  made  for  his  recovery,  and  for  a  time  some  felt  en- 
couraged to  hope.  A  complicated  disease  involving  several 
of  the  vital   parts   presented  such   dubious  and  conflicting 


30  HISTORY    OF    THE    FIRST    PRESBYTERIAN 

s3miptoins  as  to  liaftle  medical  opinion  and  render  the 
proper  treatment  difficult.  A  marked  alteration  for  the 
worse  a  day  or  two  before  his  decease  awakened  appre- 
hension of  the  issue  in  some,  and  a  difficulty  in  breathing 
occasioned  probably  by  the  presence  of  water  in  the  chest, 
soon  confirmed  their  fears,  and  left  the  emaciated  frame  to 
tell  the  rest.  Fondly  had  maternal  tenderness  and  piety 
watched  and  cheered  the  pillow  of  a  dying  son,  for  tedious 
days  and  nights  and  weeks  together,  and  it  was  hoi)ed  that 
ere  the  close  of  the  past  week  he  would  return  to  the  bor- 
ough, preparatory  to  attendance  at  church  with  the  mem- 
bers of  his  Presbytery  now  expected  to  convene  in  it ;  but 
the  Most  High  had  other  designs  toward  him,  and  his  sun 
descended  in  its  western  sky  more  rapidly  than  even  des- 
pondency itself  had  anticipated;  so  true  is  it  that  death 
comes  like  a  thief  in  the  night,  rendering  it  essential  that 
we  be  always  ready.  The  nature  of  his  complaint  pre- 
cluded the  expression  of  his  feelings,  but  from  much  that 
had  passed  in  conversation  before,  we  infer  that  death  was 
not  a  terror  to  his  mind. 

"The  first  interview  had  with  him  on  his  return  from 
New  York  to  Philadelphia  convinced  the  writer  that  he  was 
incurably  sick,  and  freely  communicating  the  impression 
did  not  create  distress.  He  observed,  'Brother  AI.,  I  am 
not  long  for  this  world.'  I  responded  in  the  affirmative  with 
tenderness,  and  he  was  afifected,  but  did  not  lose  his  firm- 
ness. When  asked  if  it  would  trouble  him  to  know  his 
case  to  be  incurable,  he  said  not,  and  requested  a  free  dis- 
closure of  medical  opinion,  which  was  given  him.  Thus 
calm,  collected,  leaning,  we  trust,  on  all-sufficient  grace,  he 
has  passed  from  our  view  to  join  the  choir  of  the  redeemed. 
Many  a  heart  aches  for  him,  many  a  tear  flows.  The  sons 
and  daughters  of  Zion  in  West  Chester  deplore  him  as  a 
brother;  some  weep  for  him  as  a  spiritual  father,  by  whom 
they  have  been  born  to  God ;  and  many  are  the  tributes  of 
respect  and  tenderness  for  his  memory  which  lips  un- 
feigned pay. 

"May  God  sanctify  the  dispensation  to  saints  and  sin- 


CHUUCII.    OF    WEST    CHESTER,    PA.  31 

ners.  O  ye  who  heard  Hstlessly  the  voice  of  this  man  of 
God  when  alive,  hear  him  now  from  the  grave,  for  he  being 
dead  yet  spcakcth.  You  will  meet  him  ;  and  shall  he  wel- 
come you  to  the  joys  of  the  common  Lord,  or  shall  he  ap- 
pear as  a  witness  against  you  ?  *  '''  Servant  of  God  ! 
Well  done.  'I  heard  a  voice  from  heaven  saying  unto  me, 
Write,  Blessed  are  the  dead  which  die  in  the  Lord  from 
henceforth  :  Yea,  saith  the  Spirit,  that  they  may  rest  from 
their  labors ;  and  their  works  do  follow  them.'  " 

The  death  of  Mr.  Stevens  was  a  great  blow  to  the 
church.  His  own  popularity  was  great.  His  talents  were 
of  a  high  order.  J\Iany  were  drawn  to  the  new  congrega- 
tion by  the  zeal  and  the  eloquence  of  the  youthful  preacher. 
His  death  left  the  tiock  literally  as  sheep  without  a  shep- 
herd. In  the  brief  period  between  the  organization  of  the 
church  and  the  death  of  the  pastor,  but  little  could  be  done 
toward  molding  the  heterogeneous  materials  into  a  com- 
pact and  organized  body.  Officers  and  members  were  alike 
new  to  each  other. 

The  dissensions  which  were  then  agitating  the  church 
at  large,  and  which  culminated  in  the  division  of  1838,  were 
felt  here.  The  efforts  of  those  without,  who  endeavored 
to  keep  the  church  in  harmony  with  a  majority  of  the 
Presbytery,  were  injudicious.  Seeds  of  discord  were  sown. 
The  power  of  unity  was  no  longer  felt.  Repeated  failures 
to  secure  a  pastor  discouraged  the  congregation.  Some 
who  had  worshiped  with  the  church  and  supported  it  in 
the  absence  Of  any  organization  of  their  own,  now  united 
with  the  Baptist  Church,  which  dates  from  1834,  or  the 
Episcopal  gathered  in  1836.  Moreover,  the  location  of  the 
church,  now  so  central  and  desirable  was  then  against  it. 
There  were  no  sidewalks  from  Church  street  west.  A  build- 
ing for  evening  meetings  and  Sunday  School  was  erected 
"in  town,"  on  the  rear  of  a  lot  on  the  west  side  of  Church 
street,  then  owned  by  P.  Frazer  Smith,  Esq.,  now  No.  10 
South  Church  street.  The  building  which  was  a  small 
frame  structure  was  used  until  1850,  when  it  was  removed. 


32  HISTORY    OF    THE    FIRST    PRESBYTERIAN 

For  many  years  it  stood  in  two  sections  at  the  southeast 
corner  of  Miner  and  New  streets. 

REV.  JAMES  J.  GRAFF'S  PASTORATE. 

On  January  12,  1835,,  a  call  was  given  to  Rev.  Joseph 
Barr,  which  he  decHned.  A  call  July  6,  1835,  to  Rev.  Joseph 
Mahon,  was  also  declined.  In  December,  1835,  the  Rev. 
James  J.  Graff  was  invited  to  supply  the  church.  A  call 
was  subsequently  given  and  accepted,  and  he  was  installed 
on  April  29,  1836.  The  number  of  members  at  this  time 
was  sixty-two.  On  the  30th  of  October,  1836,  Dr.  Wilmer 
Worthington  was  ordained  a  ruling  elder. 

Reference  has  already  been  made  to  the  troubled  state 
of  the  Presbyterian  Church  in  the  United  States.  Some 
of  the  members  of  the  New  Castle  Presbytery  were  annoy- 
ingly  active  in  their  efforts  to  control  the  pulpit  and  secure 
the  church  to  what  was  then  known  as  the  "Old  School," 
while  the  sympathies  of  the  congregation  were  very  de- 
cidedly with  the  "New  School." 

At  a  meeting  of  the  Presbytery  at  Pequea,  September 
27,  1836,  the  church  requested  it  to  concur  in  a  petition  to 
Synod  that  it  be  transferred  to  the  Presbytery  of  Phila- 
delphia. The  Presbytery,  however,  recommended  the  con- 
gregation to  forbear  making  its  application  to  the  Synod 
at  the  next  meeting,  "trusting  that  the  church  will  be  in  a 
more  settled  state  a  year  hence,  and  that  Presbytery 
can  concur  in  their  request  if  presented."  The  difffculties, 
however,  were  not  removed.  The  questions  which  agitated 
the  church  at  large  were  agitated  here.  The  prosecution  of 
Rev.  Dr.  Albert  Barnes  for  heresy,  was  regarded  as  perse- 
cution, a  large  majority  of  the  church  sympathizing  with 
him,  and  with  the  views  of  which  he  was  regarded  as  the 
exponent. 

At  a  meeting  of  the  Presbytery  held  in  this  church, 
October,  1837,  on  the  question  of  sustaining  the  excluding 
acts  of  the  Assembly,  Henry  Fleming,  Esq.,  the  delegate 
from   this   church,   voted   the   solitarv   "No!"   with   an    em- 


CHUllCH.    OF    WEST    CHESTER,    PA.  33 

phasis  which  those  who  knew  him  could  well  appreciate. 

At  the  meeting  of  the  Assembly  in  1838,  the  com- 
missioners from  the  New  Castle  Presbytery  went  with  the 
"Old  School,"  which  explains  the  following  minute  of  the 
Presbytery.  "The  Rev.  J.  J.  Grafif  and  Mr.  P.  F.  Smith,  in 
their  proper  persons,  and  the  session  and  the  congregation 
at  West  Chester,  by  a  written  communication  declared, 
'That  should  this  Presbytery  affirm  the  conduct  of  their 
commissioners  to  the  last  General  Assembly,  then,  and  in 
that  case,  they,  and  each  of  them,  would  withdraw  from 
their  connection.'  The  Presbytery  did  so  approve  of  the 
course  of  said  commissioners,  whereupon  they,  according 
to  their  declaration,  did  withdraw.  This  Presbytery  does 
therefore,  hereby  declare  that  Rev.  J.  J.  Graff,  and  the  ses- 
sion and  congregation  of  West  Chester  are  no  longer  to  be 
considered  as  connected  with  the  Presbyterian  Church." 
The  church  with  its  pastor  thus  excluded  sought  admission 
to  the  Third  Presbytery  of  Philadelphia,  and  was  received 
by  it  October  2,  1838. 

From  this  time  onward  to  the  reunion  in  1870,  the 
relations  of  the  church  were  with  that  Presbytery,  and 
were  perfectly  harmonious.  It  is  not  easy  at  this  day  to 
conceive  the  bitterness  of  feeling,  which  preceded,  accom- 
panied and  followed  the  disruption  of  1838.  It  is  our 
blessed  privilege  to  share  in  the  harmony  and  prosperity  of 
the  reunion. 

The  ministry  of  Mr.  Graff  here  continued  a  little  more 
than  four  years.  During  that  time  25  were  added  to  the 
church  by  certificate,  and  16  by  examination,  a  total  of  41. 
The  number  on  the  roll  when  he  left  was  '/(i.  Meanwhile, 
in  1839,  a  church  was  organized,  chiefly  of  members  of  this 
church,  at  East  Whiteland.  Until  the  spring  of  1841  it  was 
connected  with  this  church  in  the  same  pastoral  charge. 
In  April,  1840,  Mr.  Graft"  resigned. 

Mr.  Graff  was  born  within  the  limits  of  the  congrega- 
tion of  Chestnut  Level,  Lancaster  county,  Pa.,  November 
22,  1803.  During  his  childhood  his  parents  removed  to 
Maryland.     Fie  received  his  classical  education  at  Chestnut 


K4  HISTORY    OF    THE    FIRST    PRESBYTERIAN 

Level,  under  Rev.  Francis  A.  Latta,  and  at  Bethesda,  Md., 
under  Rev.  John  Mories,  D.  D.  He  studied  theology  at 
Princeton,  and  was  licensed  by  the  Presbytery  of  the  Dis- 
trict of  Columbia,  in  the  fall  of  1833,  and  ordained  in  the 
spring  of  1834  as  an  evangelist.  After  leaving  West  Ches- 
ter he  served  several  churches  as  pastor,  being  called 
eventually  to  Annapolis,  Md.  Here  he  labored  until  the 
breaking  out  of  the  Rebellion,  when  a  majority  of  his  people 
being  opposed  to  the  Union,  which  he  heartily  sustained, 
he  resigned  in  1861.  He  was  immediately  appointed  by 
the  Government  Librarian  of  the  Naval  Academy  at  Annap- 
olis, a  position  which  he  held  until  his  death. 

REV.   JOHN   CROWELL. 

Soon  after  the  resignation  of  Mr.  Graff,  a  call  was 
given  to  the  Rev.  John  Crowell,  a  licentiate  of  the  Third 
Presbytery  of  Philadelphia.  He  was  ordained  and  installed 
June  5,  1840.  During  the  first  year  the  pastoral  services 
were  divided  between  East  Whiteland  and  West  Chester. 
In  the  spring  of  1841,  Mr.  James  Crowell,  the  father  of  the 
pastor,  took  charge  of  the  academy,  and  Mr.  Crowell  was 
associated  with  him,  having  charge  of  the  classical  and 
mathematical  departments,  a  step  made  necessary  by  the  in- 
adefjuacy  of  the  support.  Four  hundred  and  fifty  dollars  was 
all  the  church  could  promise  its  pastor,  and  even  this  was 
often  in  arrears.  Home  missionary  aid  was  withdrawn,  on 
the  ground  that  the  pastor  devoted  part  of  his  time  to 
teaching.  This  withdrawal  of  aid,  combined  with  the  debt 
on  the  building  and  other  financial  difficulties,  brought  on, 
in  the  summer  of  1842,  a  crisis  in  the  history  of  the  church, 
which  resulted  favorably  to  its  subsequent  progress.  Ar- 
rearages were  brought  up;  the  debt  was  provided  for  and 
subsequently  paid;  the  house,  which  had  never  been  com- 
pleted, was  put  in  thorough  repair,  the  pews  and  wood- 
work were  painted,  a  gallery  built,  and  a  great  advance 
made  toward  self-support.  As  often  happens,  this  awaken- 
ing of  interest  in  the  outward  concerns  of  the  sanctuary, 


CHURCH,    OF    WEST    CHESTER,    PA. 


was  followed  in  the  winter  of  1842-43  by  a  revival  of  great 
power.  Some  thirty-eight  were  received  into  the  church 
on  a  profession  of  their  faith,  of  whom  twenty-five  were 
baptized.  The  number  on  the  roll  was  reported  May,  1843, 
as  one  hundred  and  twenty-four. 

During  the  ministry  of  Mr.  Crowell,  great  and  substantial 
progress  was  made  in  all  the  elements  of  true  success. 
The  antagonism  of  the  disruption  disappeared.  The  church 
became  homogeneous ;  valuable  additions  were  made  to  the 
congregation,  and  the  way  was  prepared  for  a  more  rapid 
growth.  Mr.  Crowell  was  pastor  for  a  little  over  ten  years. 
During  that  time  sixty  were  added  to  the  church  by  pro- 
fession and  thirty  by  letter,  a  total  of  ninety.  On  the  15th 
of  July,  1850,  having  received  a  call  from  the  Second  Pres- 
byterian Church  of  Orange,  N.  J.,  Mr.  Crowell  tendered 
his  resignation,  which  was  reluctantly  accepted.  The  pas- 
toral relation  was  dissolved  by  the  Presbytery,  July  17, 
1850.  The  number  of  communicants,  as  reported  in  May, 
1850,  was  one  hundred  and  twenty-four.  A  careful  revision, 
however,  reduced  the  number  of  those  present  or  accounted 
for  to  ninety-six. 

Rev.  John  Crowell,  D.  D.,  was  the  only  ex-pastor  who 
lived  to  see  the  seventy-fifth  anniversary  of  the  organiza- 
tion of  this  church.  Writing  from  East  Orange,  N.  J.,  he 
expressed  regret  that  on  account  of  lack  of  strength  he 
would  be  unable  to  be  present  at  the   exercises.*     He  re- 


*Since  the  above  was  written.  Rev.  John  Crowell,  D.  D.  died  at 
his  home  in  East  Orange,  N.  J.,  March  29th,  of  pneumonia  after  an 
illness  of  two  davs.  He  was  in  his  ninetv-flftl^  year.  Dr.  Crowell 
was  born  in  Philadelphia,  the  son  of  James  Crowell  and  Mary 
Gardner.  He  studied  at  the  University  of  Pennsylvania  and  at 
Princeton  College,  graduating-  from  the  latter  in  18.34.  Three  years 
later  he  was  graduated  from  Princeton  Theological  Seminary.  He 
was  a  tutor  in  Princeton  College  in  1836.  He  was  ordained  in  the 
Presbyterian  ministry  in  1840,  and  was  pastor  of  the  First  Presby- 
terian Church,  of  West  Chester,  Pa.,  from  then  until  1850.  During 
the  next  thirteen  years  he  was  pastor  of  the  Brick  Presbyterian 
Church  in  East  Orange,  N,  J.  He  held  a  pastorate  at  Odessa,  Del., 
from  1867  to  1878  and  was  an  acting  pastor  of  a  church  at  Stirling, 
N  J.,  from  1884  to  1888.  He  was  secretary  of  the  Board  of  Educa- 
tion of  East  Orange  from  1889  until  1906.  when  he  resigned  and  at 
the  same  time  retired  from  active  worK.  He  was  author  of  "  Repub- 
lics- Popular  Government  an  Appointment  of  God,"  1871;  and  Christ 
in  All  the  Scriptures."  He  contributed  about  400  articles  to 
the  International  Encyclopaedia.  He  was  married  on  October  24, 
1840,  to  Katharine  Roney,  daughter  of  Thomas  Roney,  of  Philadel- 
phia He  is  survived  by  these  children:  Miss  Catharine  Crowell  and 
Miss  Marv  Crowell,  of  East  Orange;  Foster  Crowell,  of  New  York: 
Mrs,  Artlnir  Richmond,  of  East  O.range,  and  Thomas  R.  Crowell,  of 
Lebanon,    Pa, 


36  HISTORY    OF    THE    FIRST    PRESBYTERIAN 

called  the  fact  that  in  April,  1839.  the  Third  Presbytery  of 
Philadelphia  met  at  West  Chester,  and  he  was  there  li- 
censed to  preach  the  Gospel.  Then  in  June,  1840,  the  Pres- 
bytery met  there  again  to  ordain  and  install  him  pastor  of 
the  church.  He  tells  us  that  in  the  years  of  his  pastorate 
"the  side  pews  on  the  right  of  the  minister  were  occupied 
by  boys  from  Mr.  Bolmar's  school,  and  the  corresponding 
pews  on  the  left  were  filled  by  the  boys  from  the  West 
Chester  Academy.  At  that  early  period  in  the  history  of 
the  church,  the  church  edifice  had  not  been  completed,  but 
the  work  was  soon  accomplished  by  the  finishing  of  the 
vestibules,  stairways  and  gallery,  after  which  a  choir  was 
established  which  added  greatly  to  the  efficiency  and  at- 
tractiveness of  the  church  services.  Before  the  gallery 
was  built  'Squire  Fleming,  who  was  also  one  of  the  elders, 
discharged  the  duties  of  Precentor.  His  official  station  was 
at  a  small  table  on  the  cross  aisle  in  front  of  the  pulpit." 

He  wrote  in  his  letter  that  eventually  a  "pipe  organ" 
was  obtained,  but  it  was  "quite  small."  He  gives  it  as  his 
impression  that  "it  was  some  time,  perhaps  several  years," 
before  the  organ  came  into  use,  and  he  adds,  "This  delay 
may  have  been  owing  in  part  to  the  strong  Quaker  senti- 
ment of  West  Chester." 

REV.  WILLIAM  E.   MOORE. 

On  the  second  Sabbath  in  August,  1850,  Mr.  William 
E.  Moore,  a  licentiate  of  the  Presbytery  of  Wilmington, 
was  invited  to  supply  the  vacant  pulpit.  A  unanimous 
call  was  extended  to  him  and  he  entered  on  his  work, 
September  29,  1850.  He  was  ordained  and  installed  by  the 
Third  Presbytery  of  Philadelphia,  October  30,  1850.  The 
amount  of  the  salary  promised  in  the  call  was  five  hundred 
dollars,  but  it  was  understood  that  it  should  be  made  up 
by  subscription  to  six  hundred  dollars.  The  income  of  the 
church  from  pew  rents  at  this  time  was  five  hundred  and 
twenty  dollars. 

When    Rev.    Mr.    Moore    became    pastor,    there   were 


WILLIAM    EVES    MOORE 
Pastor,  1850-1872 


CHURCH,    OF    WEST    CHESTER,    PA.  37 

found  on  the  roll  of  those  who  could  be  accounted  for  a 
membership  of  ninety-six.  The  congregation  was  harmo- 
nious and  united.  Under  the  faithful  and  able  preaching 
of  the  preceding  pastors  the  church  had  been  consolidated 
and  indoctrinated.  The  population  of  the  borough  was 
3072.  Among  the  members  of  the  church  and  congregation 
were  many  influential  citizens.  At  that  time  Rev.  J.  B. 
Clemson  was  rector  of  the  Episcopal  Church  ;  Rev.  Alfred 
Patton,  of  the  Baptist  Church,  then  standing  on  Church 
street,  north  of  where  the  West  Chester  Laundry  is  now 
located  ;  Rev.  James  Huston  was  pastor  of  the  Methodist 
Church,  succeeded  the  next  spring  by  the  Rev.  Alfred 
Cookman.  Among  all  these  churches  was  the  most  cordial 
harmony. 

The  elders  of  the  church  at  this  time  were  Henry 
Fleming,  Esq.,  P.  Frazer  Smith,  Esq.,  Wilmer  AVorthington, 
M.  D.,  and  James  Crowell.  These  were  also  trustees,  and 
in  addition,  Ziba  Pyle,  Esq.,  William  Williamson,  Esq., 
John  Marshall  and  Captain  Williani'  Apple.  The  signatures 
of  these  eight  were,  by  order  of  the  congregation,  affixed 
to  the  call  given  to  Rev.  Mr.  Moore. 

Up  to  the  end  of  Mr.  Crowell's  pastorate  here,  the 
evening  meetings  and  Sabbath  School  were  held  in  the  Lec- 
ture Room  on  Church  street.  For  a  year  or  more  after 
Rev.  Mr.  Moore  became  pastor,  they  were  held  in  the  au- 
dience room  of  the  church.  The  basement  was  then  fin- 
ished, gas  was  introduced,  the  whole  church  was  painted 
and  papered  in  1853. 

The  growth  of  the  church  was  gradual  but  strong.  On 
the  9th  of  July,  1854,  Mr.  Lambert  Clark  and  William  F. 
Wyers  were  elected  ruling  elders.  In  May,  i860,  the  num- 
ber of  members  reported  was  211.  The  revivals  of  1858-59 
had  reached  this  church,  not  so  much  in  the  way  of  large 
additions,  as  in  increased  zeal  and  energy.  Sabbath  Schools 
were  established  in  the  neighboring  districts,  and  an  at- 
tempt was  made,  successful  for  a  time,  to  maintain  a  Young 
Men's  Christian  Association,  which  ultimately  failed  be- 
cause its  young  men  were  too  old. 


38  HISTORY    OF    THE    FIRST    PRESBYTERIAN 

The  field  of  labor  around  the  borough  had  by  this  time 
widened,  so  that  the  pastor  of  this  church  was  called  upon 
to  preach  almost  every  Sabbath,  either  at  Unionville,  Ham- 
orton,  Kennett  Square,  Dilworthtown,  Sager's,  Parker- 
ville,  Harmony  Hill,  or  some  other  point  within  reach.  By 
this  time  the  church  was  full  and  a  demand  was  made  for 
more  room. 

The  trustees  took  measures  to  enlarge  the  church  by 
adding  twenty-five  feet  in  length,  which  would  give  forty 
additional  pews,  making  the  seating  capacity  six  hundred 
in  addition  to  the  gallery.  This  was  all  accomplished,  and 
at  the  same  time  the  whole  was  frescoed,  painted  and  fur- 
nished. The  repairs  were  completed  in  1862  at  an  expense 
of  $1,968.60,  and  the  sermon  on  the  occasion  of  its  re- 
occupation  was  preached  by  Rev.  John  Crowell. 

While  these  repairs  were  in  progress  the  Rebellion 
Ijroke  out,  and  the  quiet  of  the  borough  was  broken  by  the 
gathering  here  of  armed  men.  The  harmony  of  the  church, 
however,  was  not  disturbed;  with  perfect  unanimity  its 
meni'bers  recognized  their  obligations  to  their  country. 

The  following  is  a  list  of  those  immediately  connected 
with  the  families  of  this  congregation  who  were  in  the 
army  in  different  capacities  during  the  war : 

Surgeons — Dr.  William  S.  King,  U.  S.  A. ;  Dr.  William 
H.  Worthington,  93d  Regiment,  P.  V.;  Dr.  John  R.  Ever- 
hart,  97th;  Dr.  J.  R.  Hayes,  8ist;  Dr.  William  B.  Brinton, 
4th  Reserve;  Dr.  Howard  King,  21st  Cavalry;  Dr.  William 
Goodell,  Hospital. 

John  G.  Parke,  Major  General ;  George  F.  Smith,  Col- 
onel, 6ist  P.  v.;  Henry  M.  Mclntyre,  ist  Reserves,  died  of 
wounds  received  at  New  Market,  Va. ;  William  James, 
Brigadier  General  and  Quartermaster;  E.  L.  Christman, 
Captain  ist  Reserves;  David  Jones,  Quartermaster,  97th; 
D.  B.  Hannum,  Jr.,  Lieutenant,  ....  Cavalry ;  William  Snare, 
Lieutenant,  124th;  William  Whitehead,  Lieutenant,  124th; 
John  Barber,  Lieutenant,  97th ;  P.  Mercer,  Lieutenant  and 
Quartermaster,  ist  Reserves;  Paul  Whitehead,  Captain, 
86th ;  Thomas  John,  Sergeant,  97th ;  Reuben  Fithian,  Ser- 


CHURCH,    OF    WEST    CHESTER,    PA.  39 

geant,  97th,  Austin  Fithian,  97th;  Weaker  Lackey,  95th; 
George  Garrett,  97th  ;  Lee  A.  Stroud,  97th ;  John  P.  Win- 
terbottom,  97th ;  William  Hemphill,  97th  ;  Isaac  Burns,  --.- 
Cavalry;  George  Burns,  97th;  Joseph  Davis,  124th;  Ed- 
ward Jester,  124th;  Charles  W.  Fraley,  124th;  S.  Naylor, 
124th;  Frank  P.  Gardiner,  Ensign,  U.  S.  N.,  died  in  service; 
Robert  T.  Cornwell,  Captain. 

The  following  responded  to  the  call  made  by  the  Gov- 
ernor for  the  militia  for  Antietam  and  Gettysburg. 

William  B.  Waddell,  Major;  J.  B.  Everhart,  Major; 
William  Dallett,  Captain;  Thomas  Reed,  Lieutenant;  John 
A.  Leslie,  Artillery ;  William  E.  Barber,  Lieutenant ;  Wil- 
liam McKay,  John  G.  Robinson,  C.  B.  Lee,  George  Kerr, 
Theodore  Apple,  W^  W".  \Voodruft,  Theodore  Lee,  Theo- 
dore Beaumont,  Charles  Jacobs,  Livingston  Hartman,  Ar- 
tillery; Rev.  W^illiam  E.  Moore,  Second  Lieutenant,  Artil- 
ley;  F.  A.  Allen,  Artillery;  William  V.  Husted,  Artillery; 
J.  Carpenter  Rhoades,  Artillery ;  E.  R.  Stevens,  Artillery ; 
R.  E.  Monaghan,  Infantry;  Willie  Fithian,  Musician. 

With  very  few  exceptions  these  embraced  all  the  men 
in  the  congregation  capable  of  bearing  arms.  The  militia 
of  1863  were  mnstered  into  the  service  of  the  United  States, 
June  29th,  for  three  months,  and  were  mustered  out  on  the 
24th  of  August.  The  ladies  of  the  congregation  did  a  noble 
and  untiring  work  in  feeding  and  caring  for  the  soldiers. 
Camp  Wayne  was  located  here.  The  9th  and  nth  Regi- 
ments of  the  three  months'  men  were  organized  here,  as 
also  the  9th  and  7th  Reserves,  and  the  97th.  The  Christian 
and  Sanitary  Commissions  were  largely  aided  by  our 
people. 

During  the  ten  years  from  i860  to  1870,  the  growth  of 
the  church  was  rapid.  Two  hundred  and  seventy-one  were 
added  to  its  commimion.  The  years  1865-66  were  espec- 
ially marked  by  large  accessions.  Mr.  William  McCul- 
lough  and  Mr.  William  V.  Husted  were  installed  as  ruling 
elders,  October  20,  1865. 

In  November,  1869,  the  two  branches  of  the  Presbyte- 


40  HISTOnY    OP    THE    FIRST    PRESBYTERIAN 

rian  Church  were  reunited,  and  by  the  adjustment  of  Pres- 
byterial  lines  this  church,  with  all  the  Presbyterian 
churches  of  Chester  and  Delaware  counties,  were  formed 
into  a  new  Presbytery  bearing-  the  name  of  Chester. 

During  the  years  1871-72  the  gallery  of  the  church  was 
enlarged  and  a  new  organ  bought.  The  vestibule  was  laid 
with  tile,  the  granite  steps  erected,  and  other  improvements 
made  in  heating,  lighting,  etc.,  at  an  expense  of  about 
$3700. 

On  the  22d  of  Fe])ruary,  1872,  a  call  was  extended  to 
the  pastor  of  this  church  by  the  Second  Presbyterian 
Church  of  Columbus,  Ohio.  After  visiting  that  field  he 
felt  it  to  be  his  duty  to  accept,  and  accordingly  was  dis- 
missed by  the  Presbytery  of  Chester,  April  9,  1872,  and 
preached  his  farewell  sermon,  Sabbath,  April  14th,  closing 
a  pastorate  of  twenty-one  and  a  half  years.  During  these 
years  there  were  added  to  the  church  221  l)y  letter,  325  by 
profession,  a  total  of  546.  The  number  on  the  roll  of  the 
church  as  reported  by  the  Clerk  of  the  Sessions,  May,  1872, 
was  370. 

In  April,  1872,  the  church  adopted  the  "term  service" 
■of  the  eldership.  Dr.  Worthington,  William  McCullough 
and  William  V.  Husted  resigned,  and  were  immediately  re- 
elected to  serve  for  three  years.  Four  additional  elders 
were  elected  to  serve  for  the  same  time,  viz. :  John  G. 
Robinson,  William  E.  I'arber,  William  S.  Kirk  and  Alfred 
P.  Reid.  Of  the  elders,  James  Crowell  had  been  dismissed 
March  16,  1854;  H/enry  Fleming,  Esq.,  had  died  September 
29,  1865,  aged  82;  Lambert  Clark  died.  May  16,  1869,  aged 
72,  and  W^illiam  F.  W^yers  died  June  23,  1871,  aged  59. 

Henry  Fleming,  Esq.,  died  September  29,  1865.  In 
the  minute  adopted  by  the  Session,  November  15,  there  is 
an  extended  notice  of  his  relation  to  this  church  from  its 
beginning:  "Although  the  church  was  not  formally  or- 
ganized till  1834,  it  may  be  said  that  it  had  a  practical  and 
effective  existence  since  1831,  when  Mr.  Fleming  faithfully 
aided   its  first   pastor   in    laying  its   foundations,   and   until 


RULING  ELDERS 

1.  Henry    Fleming  4.   William    F.    Wyers 

2.  Dr.    Wilmer    "Worthing-ton  5.   William    E.     Barber 

3.  Lambert  Clark  6.   P.    Frazer   Smith 


CHURCH,    OP    WEST    CHESTER,    PA. 


Mr.  Stevens'  death  continned  one  of  his  able  and  steady 
supporters.  Mr.  Fleming  first  made  a  public  profession  of 
religion  at  the  organization  of  the  church  in  January,  1834, 
and  with  five  others  was  chosen  a  ruling  elder.  Four  of 
these  have  been  dismissed  to  unite  with  other  churches, 
and  three  of  them  afterwards  died.  No  ruling  elder  before 
him  has  died  whilst  in  connection  with  this  church.  *  * 
*  ■''-  Notwithstanding  this  church  was  organized  with 
such  vigorous  strength  and  with  such  promises  of  continued 
prosperity  as  are  rarely  given  to  a  young  church,  the  dif- 
ferences and  dissensions  which  arose  in  the  effort  to  choose 
a  successor  to  Mr.  Stevens,  nearly  destroyed  it.  During 
the  many  years  of  its  consequent  adversity,  when  strug- 
gling for  existence,  Mr.  Fleming,  often  disheartened,  never 
thought  of  abandoning  it.  At  times,  when  its  very  life 
seemed  flickering  to  go  out,  his  watchfulness  and  fostering 
care  kept  the  flame  alive.  To  these,  with  his  prayers,  it  is 
in  no  small  degree  owing  that  our  candlestick  is  not  re- 
moved from  its  place,  and  that  its  light  now  burns  with 
such  strong  brightness.  For  the  church  he  performed  the 
most  laborious  and,  what  might  be  esteemed  by  some, 
menial  services ;  by  day,  at  midnight,  and  before  the  dawn  ; 
in  storm  and  in  calm  ;  for  the  church  lay  deep  in  his  heart. 
'•'  *  '•'  *  Regular  in  his  attendance  on  all  the  services 
of  the  sanctuary,  devout  in  his  attention,  he  was  indeed  an 
example  to  the  flock.  From  his  connection  with  this  church 
for  more  than  twenty-six  consecutive  years,  he  was  never 
absent  once  from  the  communion  table.  The  records  of  the 
session  will  testify  of  his  punctuality  at  our  meetings. 
Practically  as  well  as  theoretically  he  was  a  thorough, 
sound  Presbyterian.  The  memory  of  the  small  number 
who  starting  with  him  have  not  fallen  from  his  side  in  his 
long  pilgrimage,  can  recall  but  few  prayer  meetings,  where 
his  clear  and  sonorous  voice  was  not  heard  in  songs  of  holy 
praise." 

The  fact  is  recorded  that  he  was  the  first  President  of 
the  Ciiester  County  Temperance  Society,  "he  also  main- 
tained an  unequivocal  stand  on  the  side  of  the  slave  through 


42  HISTORY    OF    THE    FIRST    PRESBYTERIAN 

much  contumely  and  even  persecution."  '^  *  *  '•' 
"In  the  War  of  1812,  he  was  among  the  first  who  went  from 
this  community  into  the  mihtary  service  of  the  United 
States.  He  was  absent  from  home  in  that  service  about 
three  years,  one  half  of  which  was  spent  in  Quebec  as  a 
prisoner  of  war."  His  long  service  as  Justice  of  the  Peace 
is  referred  to  until  he  refused  to  longer  hold  that  ofifice, 
fearing  "lest  his  declining  health  should  so  affect  his  mind 
that  he  might  err  in  deciding  between  suitors."  "Perhaps 
his  very  last  intelligible  utterance  was  an  expression  of  his 
entire  reliance  on  Christ  and  on  His  mercy  only  for  his  sal- 
vation." 

Mr.  Lambert  Clark  was  almost  fifteen  years  an  Elder 
in  this  church.  In  the  minute  in  reference  to  his  death, 
adopted  September  15,  1869,  we  find  tlie  following:  "Mr. 
Clark  was  born  August,  1797,  near  Centreville,  Queen 
Anne's  county,  on  the  eastern  shore  of  Maryland.  In  early 
manhood  he  united  with  the  6th  Presbyterian  Church,  of 
Philadelphia,  in  which  he  bore  the  office  of  Deacon  until 
his  removal  to  Tioga  county.  There  he  served  the  church 
at  Blossburg  as  a  ruling  elder  with  great  acceptance.  In 
1856,  having  removed  to  West  Chester,  he  was  elected  and 
installed  a  ruling  elder  in  this  church  and  filled  the  office 
with  great  acceptance  and  profit  to  the  congregation  until 
his  death,  a  period  of  nearly  fifteen  years. 

In  all  the  relations  of  life  Mr.  Clark  was  a  man  of 
marked  fidelity  to  duty.  He  always  aimed  to  know  and  do 
what  Avas  right.  Men  instinctively  felt  that  they  could  trust 
him,  and  that  trust  was  never  betrayed.  Modest  and  retir- 
ing, he  yet  held  a  large  place  in  the  esteem  of  every  com- 
munity in  which  he  lived.  He  was  a  good  citizen,  a  kind 
neighbor  and  friend.  But  it  was  especially  as  a  Christian 
that  his  light  shone  before  men.  Always  unassuming  and 
even  shrinking,  he  yet  bore  his  Christian  profession  on  the 
fore  front  of  his  whole  life.  Every  one  who  knew  him, 
knew  that  he  was  a  follower  of  Jesus.  Men  glorified  God 
in  him. 

As  an  officer  of  the  church  he  was  always  faithful  to 


CHURCH,    OP    WEST    CHESTER,    PA.  43 

the  solemn  trust  confided  to  him.  The  church  was  the  first 
object  of  his  earthly  care.  He  sought  its  prosperity  as  his 
own.  Deeply  conscious  of  the  want  of  that  power  which 
education,  and  wealth,  and  position  give,  he  was  always 
willing  to  do  what  he  could.  His  visits  of  sympathy  and 
consolation  to  the  sick  and  the  bereaved  were  highly  prized 
by  those  to  whom  he  loved  to  minister.  He  was  always 
ready  to  sacrifice  his  private  interests  to  the  call  of  duty 
to  the  church." 

The  death  of  Mr.  William  F.  Wyers,  after  serving  this 
church  in  the  eldership  for  nearly  seventeen  years,  is  noted 
in  the  minutes  of  session  for  September  13,  1871.  "The  ses- 
sion would  leave  on  record  their  profound  sense  of  bereave- 
ment in  the  death  of  their  late  colleague,  William  Frederick 
Wyers,  A.  M.,  Ph.  D.,  who  departed  to  a  better  life,  June 
23,  1871,  in  his  60th  year. 

Born  at  Essens,  in  the  Kingdom  of  Hanover,  January 
12,  1812,  the  son  of  a  Lutheran  pastor,  educated  in  the  best 
universities  of  his  native  land,  Mr.  Wyers  came  to  America 
in  the  year  1842.  Soon  after  he  commenced  what  proved 
his  life-long  work,  the  teaching  of  an  Academy,  for  which 
he  was  eminently  qualified. 

About  the  year  1844  he  united  with  the  Presbyterian 
Church,  at  New  London,  in  this  county,  on  the  profession 
of  his  faith.  On  his  removal  to  West  Chester,  in  1852,  he 
became  a  member  of  this  church.  In  1854  he  was  elected 
a  ruling  elder  in  the  church  and  ordained  and  installed 
July  9th. 

A  man  of  the  most  thorough  education  and  the  highest 
culture,  Mr.  Wyers  gave  the  warm  afTection  of  his  heart 
and  the  power  of  his  intellect  to  the  service  of  his  Re- 
deemer. As  a  Christian  he  let  his  light  shine  everywhere. 
The  of^ce  of  ruling  elder  he  discharged  for  a  period  of  sev- 
enteen years  with  singular  fidelity  and  acceptance.  We 
thank  God  for  his  life,  his  example  and  his  influence,  while 
we  deeply  feel  and  mourn  his  absence  from  the  prayer  meet- 
ing which  he  loved,  from  the  public  worship  of  God,  and 
from  his  place  in  the  session." 


44  HISTORY    OP    THE    FIRST    PRESBYTERIAN 

At  the  close  of  Dr.  Moore's  Historical  Sermon,  deliv- 
ered in  this  church  in  1876,  he  referred  in  tender  terms  to 
some  of  those  who  had  already  passed  away.  His  words 
are  as  follows  :  "It  was  my  lot  to  come  to  the  church  when 
it  was  just  passing-  out  of  the  clouds  which  had  so  long 
overshadowed  it.  It  has  grown  to  self-support  and  was  at 
peace  within  and  without.  The  most  of  those  who  had  la- 
bored at  the  foundations  were  living  to  enjoy  the  fruit  of 
their  sacrifices  and  toils.  To-day  but  five  of  the  names  of 
those  who  joined  in  the  organization  of  the  church  are 
borne  upon  the  roll :  Lucretia  Whitehead  and  Caroline 
Fleming,  daughters  of  Captain  Fleming;  Mary  Ann  Thomp- 
son and  her  sister,  Anna  T.  Grier  and  Mrs.  Peninah  Long. 
All  its  building  committee  and  original  trustees  sleep  be- 
neath the  sod.  Of  those  who  labored  upon  the  walls,  James 
Powell  alone  remains.  The  original  elders  are  all  gone. 
Bear  with  me  as  I  call  up  to  your  mind  and  mine  some  of 
the  men  and  women  who  welcomed  me  here  twenty-six 
years  ago  and  who  are  now  numbered  with  the  dead. 

"First  of  all  of  the  elders,  the  venerable  James  Crowell, 
whose  face  shone  with  the  peace  which  reigned  within. 
Henry  Fleming,  taciturn  and  stern  to  the  eye,  but  with  a 
heart  as  tender  as  a  woman's.  Dr.  Wilmer  Worthington, 
'the  beloved  physician,'  whom  everybody  loved  and  every- 
body trusted,  the  head  and  centre  of  a  family  of  noble 
brothers,  every  one  of  whom  it  was  my  sad  duty  to  attend 
to  the  grave.  Of  the  trustees,  Ziba  Pyle,  Esq.,  and  William 
Williamson,  Esq.,  who  with  their  wives,  large-hearted  and 
noble  women,  lived  side  by  side  on  Gay  street.  William 
Apple,  as  iipright  in  his  ways  as  in  his  form.  John  Mar- 
shall, gentle  as  a  woman,  but  firm  as  a  rock  and  hating  hy- 
pocrisy with  a  perfect  hatred.  To  these  men  as.  trustees 
the  church  owed  much.  Its  interests  were  always  dear  to 
them,  and  their  money  was  freely  given.  Of  others  there 
were  William  Everhart,  not  always  appreciated  by  those 
whom  he  served,  but  who  was  always  ready  to  stand  in  the 
breach  ;  James  Atwood,  an  earnest,  spiritually-minded  man, 
by  nature,  careful  and  close ;  by  grace  generous  and  free. 


CHURCH,    OP    WEST    CHESTER,    PA. 


Mrs.  Elizabeth  H.  Caldwell,  advanced  in  years  but  young' 
in  heart,  dispensing-  her  benefactions  with  liberal  hand  but 
wishing  always  to  be  unknown.  Mrs.  Everhart,  Mrs.  Mary 
Smith,  Mrs.  Elannah  Hutchison,  Cidney  John,  Sidney 
Weaver,  Mrs.  Rutter,  Elizabeth  Beaumont  and  Hannah 
Winterbottom,  are  of  those  whose  names  should  be  held  in 
remembrance.  Mrs.  Mary  Gardiner,  a  leader  in  every  good 
work.  Of  those  who  came  after  I  began  my  ministry  here, 
I  would  recall  Francis  Park,  the  Hinmans,  then  an  un- 
broken family  of  whom  seven,  representing  four  genera- 
tions, lie  in  our  cemetery.  John  Barber  and  wife,  John  S. 
Futhey,  Lambert  Clark,  the  godly  elder,  and  William  F. 
Wyers,  the  genial  companion  and  untiring  worker.  These 
are  all  gone,  their  memory  is  precious,  'their  works  do  fol- 
low them.'  " 

Mrs.  AVilliam  E.  Moore,  unable  because  of  age  and 
weakness  to  attend  the  Seventy-fifth  Anniversary  of  the 
organization  of  the  church,  was  asked  to  send  some  remin- 
iscences of  those  early  days.  As  nothing  could  be  more  in- 
teresting, we  give  it  entire. 

"Asked  to  give  for  the  Seventy-fifth  Anniversary  of 
this  church  some  memories  from  the  days  when  it  and  its 
fourth  pastor  were  young  together,  I  am  bewildered  among 
them.  They  are  so  many  and  vivid,  so  personal,  and  so 
linked  with  many  now  in  the  church  above. 

"Upon  the  first  page  of  my  book  of  remembrance  there 
is  a  picture.  It  is  of  a  bride  and  groom  of  one  week  ap- 
proaching West  Chester  by  a  country  road  on  a  golden 
September  afternoon  in  1850.  It  is  he  who  speaks  as  they 
catch  their  first  glimpse  of  the  home  to  which  they  come, 
he  now  the  accepted  pastor  of  this  church.  'There  it  is, 
our  home  and  long  looked  for  field  of  work.  I  give  myself 
five  years  in  it.  Mr.  Crowell  did  his  first  work  there  and 
for  ten  years,  but  he  had  superior  advantages  and  a  better 
start.  But  God  helping  us  we  will  do  our  best  as  long  as 
he  keeps  us  there.' 

"Six  months  before,  Mr.   Moore  had  been  licensed  bv 


46      .  HISTORY    OF    THE    FIRST    PRESBYTERIAN 

the  Presbyter}^  of  Wilmington,  and  had  been  the  principal 
teacher  in  a  large  academy  until  within  two  weeks  of  his 
coming  to  West  Chester.  Hence  he  had  brought  to  the  new 
life  small  stock  of  sermons,  or  of  practical  experience, 
though  he  had  often  preached  during  the  summer  in 
churches  familiar  to  his  boyhood  and  youth. 

"Beautiful,  too,  is  the  companion  picture,  of  the  first 
bright  Sunday  morning  in  the  church,  charming  to  our 
e3^es  in  its  simple  grace  and  dignity,  with  its  choir  and  white 
organ  yonder  at  the  front.  In  that  choir  most  conspicuous 
is  the  stalwart  form  of  Elder  Henry  Fleming  with  his  son- 
orous bass  voice,  and  his  watchful  eye  and  care  over  many 
things.  The  front  pew  is  newly  decked  in  Presbyterian 
blue,  and  there  are  kindly  welcomes  on  every  hand. 

"A  month  later  came  the  ordination  and  installation  by 
the  Third  Presbytery  of  Philadelphia,  the  charge  to  the 
pastor  being  given  by  the  Rev.  George  Foote  to  whom  Mr. 
Moore  owed  much  for  guidance  and  cheer  in  his  preparation 
for  the  ministry,  and  to  whom  he  now  stood  as  a  son. 

'Tjetween  that  evening  and  the  Sunday  the  young  pas- 
tor had  laid  to  rest  one  aged  member  of  the  church,  and  one 
infant,  so  beginning  the  "long  ministry  of  sympathy  and  con- 
solation for  which  God  seemed  specially  to  endow  him. 

"It  was  his  duty  in  1854,  in  the  very  earliest  days  of 
Oakland  Cemetery  to  lay  there  the  dead  of  the  church  and 
community,  and  in  six  months  to  consecrate  a  spot  of  earth 
as  our  very  own.  with  little  thought  that  it  should  become 
the  Machpelah  of  four  generations  as  it  is  to-day;  or  how 
as  this  ministry  went  on  he  should  say,  'God  seems  to  keep 
our  hearts  tender  for  others'  woes  by  touching  us  often, 
and  in  tenderest  places.' 

"Upon  the  roll  of  the  church  in  October,  1850,  there 
were  123  names,  96  of  whom  were  present  or  in  acti\'e  mem- 
bership. Since  the  passing  away  within  the  last  year  of 
Elder  W^illiam  V.  Husted,  not  one  of  them  all  remains. 
Upon  the  printed  roll  of  1906,  there  are  two  names  of  the 
twentv-six  added  in  the  next  vear,  and  not  fiftv  of  those  ad- 


OIjD  manse   (Where  Chapel  now  Stands) 


CHURCH,    OF    WEST    CHESTER,    PA.  47 

niitted  in  Mr.  Moore's  ministry  of  twenty-one  and  a  half 
years.  Few  conld  now  be  found  in  any  earthly  church  who 
rallied  round  the  young  pastor — good  men  and  true,  and 
godly  women,  all  helping  by  works  of  faith  and  labors  of 
love.  Every  well-remembered  name  is  precious,  while  fa- 
miliar forms  and  faces  yet  seem  to  fill  accustomed  pews. 
Believing  in  'the  communion  of  saints,'  are  we  wrong  in 
thinking  that  close  to  the  veil  which  hides,  but  does  not 
divide  the  heavenly  from  the  earthly  church,  there  throng 
about  the  services  and  the  gatherings  of  these  anniversary 
days  a  cloud  of  witnesses  from  all  the  years  of  its  history? 

"At  the  opening  of  Mr.  Moore's  ministry,  the  income 
of  the  church  from  pew  rents  was  five  hundred  and  twenty- 
five  dollars.  It  was  three  years  before  the  basement  lec- 
ture room  and  pastor's  study  were  available  for  social 
services  and  Infant  Sunday  School,  to  which  last,  was  long 
remembered  responsive  singing  from  the  parsonage  nur- 
sery windows  near  by.  Other  vivid  memories  are  of  sun- 
rise prayer  meetings  in  that  sacred  lower  room  in  the  spring 
and  summer  of  the  great  revival  year  of  1858,  when  men 
and  women  from  nearly  every  church  in  town,  and  from 
every  calling,  gathered  there  for  united  prayer  and  received 
a  blessing. 

"From  the  outset  of  his  work  ^Ir.  Moore  had  held  that 
'the  minister  of  the  Gospel  is  a  citizen  of  the  State  and 
bound  to  promote  good  morals  and  sound  learning  as  well 
as  true  religion ;  that  he  is  Christ's  servant  and  the  whole 
church  is  his.'  Hence  care  for  feeble  surrounding  churches 
came  almost  at  once  to  be  assumed,  and  this  church  was  led 
to  see  its  duty  and  privilege  to  the  field  about  it,  in  the  con- 
duct of  such  social  services  as  were  made  possible.  In  his 
farewell  sermon  here  he  also  said :  'I  do  not  regret  the 
claims  which  have  been  made  upon  me  from  'without.'  I 
understand  it  to  be  every  pastor's  duty  to  hold  himself  to 
be  the  servant  of  all  men  for  Christ's  sake.'  Hence  by  lead- 
ings not  now  to  be  traced  doors  were  opened  to  needy 
places.  In  Kennett  Square  he  preached  first  on  a  hot  Sun- 
day  afternoon,   in   August,    1853,   paying  a   dollar   for   the 


48  HISTORY    CF    THE    FIRST    PRESBYTERIAN 

privilege  of  a  room  in  a  public  house.  At  the  close  of  the 
service,  Bayard  Taylor,  alluding  to  the  fact  said,  'Air. 
Moore,  this  must  never  happen  again.'  It  never  did.  A  hall 
was  provided. 

In  the  same  summer  was  held  in  Dilworthtown,  what 
the  then  oldest  inhabitant  averred  to  be  the  first  preaching 
service  of  which  he  had  known.  It  was  for  ]\Ir.  Moore  the 
first  of  one  hundred  and  eighteen  such  services,  from  which 
a  little  church  was  nourished  into  life.  To  Unionville 
church,  weak  and  often  without  a  pastor,  he  went  and  came 
in  like  manner  eighty-five  times.  His  faithful  record-book 
carries  on  its  pages  names  of  Hamorton,  Parkerville, 
Charlestown,  Downingtown,  ^^larshallton,  Chadd's  Ford, 
Sager's,  the  Poor  House,  and  many  other  places  where  the 
word  was  preached  or  Sunday  Schools  begun.  Among 
those.  Harmony  Hill  has  maintained  its  long  enduring 
work.  Goshen  Baptist  Church  is  also  named  in  days  be- 
fore Rev.  Joseph  S.  Evans  entered  on  his  pastorate  of  half 
a  century. 

"Seed-sowing  had  its  promise  fulfilled,  in  blessing  on 
this  Sabbath  School,  and  widened  church  life.  'By  all 
means  to  save  some,'  may  well  be  said  to  have  been  the 
motive  of  service  which  had  its  reflex  influence  upon  the 
church  itself.  Revivals  came,  and  increasing  additions  from 
within,  while  from  families  coming  to  the  town  for  change 
of  occupation  or  for  education,  goodly  numbers  found  their 
church  home  here,  making  further  enlargements  necessary. 

"Just  then  the  war  cloud  burst  upon  the  country  and 
quiet  West  Chester  was  stirred  to  its  depths.  Already  the 
thriving  academy  of  Mr.  Wyers  had  become  a  military 
school  as  well,  and  when  Colonel  Theodore  Hyatt  presently 
opened  a  second  in  the  buildings  of  the  well-known  Bol- 
mar's  School,  many  of  these  pews  were  filled  by  students 
from  both  academies  glittering  in  uniform  and  boyish  pride. 
This  pulpit  had  been  for  months  giving  forth  no  uncertain 
sound,  and  the  Thanksgiving  sermon  of  1859  was  solicited 
for  a  volume  of  war  sermons  issued  in  Washington  in  1865. 

"Once  more  from  ]\Ir.  Moore's  farewell  sermon  we  have 


CHURCH,    OF    WEST    CHESTER,    PA. 


these  words  :  'I  do  not  regret  the  part  I  took  when  in  the 
hour  of  our  country's  peril  I  lifted  up  my  voice  for  its  de- 
fence, and  girded  on  my  sword  for  the  protection  of  our 
homes.  I  could  have  done  no  otherwise  if  every  pew  in 
this  church  had  been  vacated  on  that  account.' 

"Between  the  lines  of  his  record  of  sermons  preached, 
we  read  the  story  of  weeks  of  dark  foreboding  and  thrilling 
anxiety,  or  encouraged  faith  or  hope  deferred.  To  the  pas- 
tor's joy  the  harmony  of  this  dear  church  was  in  no  wise 
disturbed.     Its  men  and  boys  were  a  unit  for  service. 

"The  pastor  was  himself  fired  with  the  soldier  spirit. 
which  had  led  him  in  early  youth  to  serve  a  campaign  in 
the  Seminole  war.  With  him  were  found  elders  and  mem- 
bers, teachers  and  students,  lawyers  and  doctors,  the  old 
and  the  young.  As  Gray  Reserves  for  home  protection,  or 
for  final  need  they  trained  in  our  streets,  and  lifted  up  their 
voices  for  the  support  and  cheer  of  their  country. 

"On  the  Sunday  after  the  surrender  of  Fort  Sumter 
there  were  in  church  the  first  of  its  friends,  sons  and  broth- 
ers, answering  the  call  of  President  Lincoln  for  seventy-five 
thousand  men;  and  l)rother  spoke  to  brother  from  the  text, 
'Be  of  good  courage,  and  let  us  play  the  men  for  the  cities 
of  our  God ;  and  the  Lord  do  that  which  seemcth  to  Him 
good.' 

"Camp  Wayne  was  organized  as  the  rallying  place  for 
regiments  formed  and  forming,  and  on  May  5,  1861,  that 
sermoii  was  repeated  to  them,  and  later,  was  one  from  the 
words,  'Fear  not  them  that  kill  the  body,  but  are  not  able 
to  kill  the  soul.'  One  Sunday  of  that  month  the  Ninth 
Pennsylvania  Regiment  was  sheltered  from  a  furious 
storm  in  the  audience  room  of  the  church,  unfinished  and 
cheerless  from  the  enlargement  of  the  }-ear  before,  while 
from  every  neighboring  home  was  brought  cofifee  and  food 
for  the  men. 

"Bv  the  texts  of  special,  or  Fast,  and  Thanksgiving 
Dav  sermons,  we  mark  the  fluctuations  of  all  those  painful 
months  and  years.  For  President  Lincoln's  first  National 
Fast  dav.  this  was  the  word  chosen :     'And  God  saw  that 


.no  HISTORY    OF    THE    FIRST    PRESBYTERIAN 

they  turned  from  their  evil  way,  and  God  repented  Him  of 
the  evil  that  He  said  He  would  do  and  did  it  not.' 

"Before  the  first  Antietam,  September  17,  1862,  we  find 
this :  'Fear  not,  for  they  that  be  with  us  are  more  than 
they  that  be  with  them,"  etc.  And  at  once  the  preacher 
was  on  his  way  to  the  awful  battlefield  under  the  Christian 
Commission,  for  work  among  the  wounded  and  dying,  find- 
ing our  own  thinned  regiments  and  gathering  them  for 
words  of  cheer.  After  the  second  battle  the  text  tells  of 
fear  largely  mingled  with  the  faith  in  his  heart,  'And  the 
end  is  not  yet.' 

On  Thanksgiving  Day,  1863,  he  says,  'Our  own  con- 
gregation has  great  reason  to  thank  God  for  the  spared 
lives  of  those  who  have  gone  to  the  field,  and  who  them- 
selves were  members  of  this  congregation,  or  husbands, 
brothers  and  sons  of  members — sixty  in  all,  as  I  have  been 
able  to  count  them.  Of  them  but  one  to  my  knowledge  has 
died  of  wounds  or  disease.  From  the  borough  itself  few 
have  fallen — but  they,  alas,  among  our  noblest  and  best.' 

"The  one  named  in  this  paragraph  was  his  own  be- 
loved half-brother,  Lieutenant-Colonel  Henry  M.  ]\lclntire, 
who  was  borne  from  this  church  to  Oakland  one  sad  Mon- 
day morning,  in  January,  1863,  while  from  his  own  home  in 
the  afternoon  also  was  laid  there  Colonel  George  Roberts. 
College  students,  and  students  of  law  together  in  the  same 
office  here,  in  death  they  were  not  divided. 

"In  June,  1863,  and  to  meet  another  call  for  militia 
pending  the  Battle  of  Gettysburg,  a  battery  goes  forth 
largely  composed  of  the  best  of  the  town  and  from  this 
church,  the  pastor  as  lieutenant,  with  chaplain's  and  sur- 
geon's duties  attached.  They  are  on  their  way  while  the 
battle  rages,  and  spend  eight  or  ten  weeks  on  guard  duty 
in  Cumberland  Valley.  In  his  history  of  this  church,  pre- 
pared in  1876,  he  gives  a  list  of  the  men  from  it  who  had 
been  in  the  service. 

"The  following  years  of  the  war  are  in  every  history, 
but  there  came  the  day  of  victory  at  length,  and  Mr.  Moore 
is  upon  the  first  boat  that  passes  up  the  James  River,  again 


CHURCH,    OF    WEST    CHESTER,    PA.  51 

charged  by  the  Christian  Commission  with  duty  at  City 
Point  and  Richmond,  or  as  its  letter  of  instruction  read, 
'wherever  piety,  patriotism-,  good  common  sense  and  en- 
ergy may  call.'  The  venerable  Joseph  Evans,  still  with 
you,  knows  of  this  great  experience. 

"On  April  9,  1865,  in  his  pew  in  Richmond,  Mr. 
Jefferson  Davis  has  received  from  General  Lee  a  telegram 
that  the  capital  must  be  evacuated.  President  Lincoln  has 
been  already  several  days  at  City  Point.  Our  delegate  re- 
ports at  the  hospital  there,  attends  the  funeral  of  two  Con- 
federate soldiers,  and  'a  full  prayer  meeting,  in  which  six 
rose  for  prayer.'  He  is  twelve  days  among  the  thrilling 
scenes  of  that  time,  preaching  twice  at  City  Point,  once  in 
Libby  Prison  to  2000  Southern  prisoners,  to  Northern 
regiments,  and  to  a  great  congregation  of  negroes  keeping 
Thanksgiving. 

"That  Sunday  evening  the  news  of  the  assassination 
of  President  Lincoln,  just  returned  to  Washington,  is 
spread  like  lightning  in  every  corner  and  to  every  color  in 
Richmond.  At  Fortress  Monroe,  on  Wednesday,  April 
19th,  he  takes  part  in  funeral  solemnities  at  the  same  hour 
with  those  in  Washington.  Rev.  Joseph  Evans  and  Charl- 
ton Lewis  are  also  there.  Mr.  Moore  returns  home  on  Fri- 
day, and  on  Sabbath  preaches  from  the  words,  'And  the 
disciples  came  and  took  up  the  body,  and  went  and  told 
Jesus.' 

"A  marked  religious  interest  had  been  going  on  for 
weeks  in  the  military  academies,  with  many  services  and 
inquiry  meetings.  The  communion  services  are  at  the 
close  of  this  historic  April,  and  Mr.  Moore  had  preached 
seventy-six  times  since  the  new  year.  Sixty-three  were  re- 
ceived upon  confession,  and  eighteen  by  letter  in  this  year, 
and  in  the  two  years  following  one  hundred  and  twenty- 
eight. 

"The  few  succeeding  years  of  this  pastorate  were  full 
of  labors,  in  the  effort  to  enter  every  opening  door  of  use- 
fulness, until  March,  1872,  the  change  came  by  which  he 
was  transferred  to  a  new  field,  for  new  and  wider  work. 


52  HISTORY    OF    THE    FIRST    PRESBVTERIAN- 

Into  this  beloved  'First  Church, "  in  the  twenty-one  and  a 
half  years,  he  had  received  on  confession  of  faith,  three 
himdred  and  twenty-five,  and  by  letter  two  hundred  and 
twenty-one ;  a  total  of  five  hundred  and  forty-six  members  ; 
])y  infant  baptism,  three  hundred  and  six.  He  had  married 
six  hundred  and  sixty-five  couples,  and  laid  five  hundred 
and  four  persons  to  their  final  rest. 

"Other  twenty-one  years  were  given  to  Dr.  Moore  in 
the  active  pastorate  in  Columbus,  Ohio,  until  at  the  aii^e  of 
seventy-one  he  retired  from  it  and  g-ave  himself  for  the  re- 
maining five  years  of  his  life  to  service  for  the  church  at 
large,  which  had  long  claimed  much  of  his  time  and  care. 
With  the  closing  session  of  the  General  Assembly  of  1899, 
in  Minneapolis,  his  life-work  also  closed,  and  in  a  little 
more  than  one  week  he  was  brought  for  the  last  earthly 
service  to  the  church  which  had  welcomed  him  on  that  Sep- 
tember day,  1850,  and  to  sleep  his  last  sleep  among  people 
of  his  long  love." 

In  concluding  this  account  of  Rev.  Dr.  Moore's  labors 
in  this  church  it  is  ])roper  to  add  a  carefully  prepared  esti- 
mate of  the  man  by  Prof.  A\'.  A\'.  W'oodrufl^.  who  was  more 
intimately  connected  with  Dr.  ^Moorc  during  his  pastorate 
here  than  any  other  member  of  the  church  now  living. 

"Rev.  William  E.  Moore  was  a  man  of  winning  pres- 
ence and  personality.  He  was  intelligently  frank  in  ex- 
pression, and  impressed  those  whom  he  met  with  his  dis- 
criminating sincerity.  He  had  an  intuitive  perception  of 
character,  and  was  seldom  wrong  in  his  estimate  of  men. 
While  quite  definite  and  positive  in  his  theological  beliefs, 
and  beyond  most  men  ready  and  able  to  give  a  reason  for 
his  faith,  he  was  considerate  and  charitable  in  regard  to 
those  who  dift'ered  from  him.  and  he  could  set  forth  his 
views  of  Gospel  truth  in  their  fullness  without  giving 
offense. 

"All  who  knew  him  were  so  impressed  l\v  his  intelli- 
gence, his  candor,  his  breadth  of  view,  and  his  charitable 
spirit,   that   barriers   disappeared   and   he   won   his   way   to 


BENJAMIN    TOWNSEND    JONES 
Pastor,    1873-1883 


CHURCH,    OP    WEST    CHESTER,    PA.  53 

many  a  heart  and  life  in  a  wa}'  that  prol)al)ly  neither  he  nor 
they  could  explain. 

"While  he  did  not  seek  public  position,  he  was  a  man 
of  such  general  intelligence  and  sound  practical  judgment 
that  he  was  often  consulted  in  regard  to  public  affairs,  es- 
pecially those  of  an  educational  character.  He  was  several 
times  elected  school  director,  and  was  largely  instrumental 
in  founding  and  organizing  our  flourishing  Xormal  School, 
where  one  of  the  literary  societies  bears  his  name. 

"In  brief.  Dr.  Moore  was  in  manner,  an  agreeable  gen- 
tleman ;  in  spirit,  considerate,  charitable  and  polite ;  in  ad- 
dress, gracious  and  appreciative;  in  reference  to  the  opin- 
ions of  others,  always  tolerant  and  charitable ;  in  habits, 
methodical,  uniform  and  correct ;  in  discharge  of  duty- 
faithful  ;  in  loyalty  to  friends,  absolutely  trustworthy,  and 
in  forbearance  a  model  that  most  men,  even  of  a  less  ardent 
temperment,  need  grace  to  ec|ual." 

As  we  have  seen,  Dr.  Moore  preached  his  farewell  ser- 
mon on  Sabbath,  April  14,  1872.  The  following  July  Dr. 
Moore  returned  and  conducted  the  comn.iunion  service. 

PASTORATE  OF  REV.  BENJ.  T.  JONES. 

Early  in  November  it  was  manifest  that  the  congrega- 
tion was  prepared  to  elect  a  pastor,  and  a  congregational 
meeting  was  called  for  November  9,  1872,  when  the  Rev. 
Benjamin  T.  Jones  was  unanimously  chosen.  He  entered 
upon  his  work  here  January  i,  1873,  and  was  installed  pas- 
tor on  January  15th. 

The  earnestness  with  which  the  new  pastor  entered 
upon  his  labors  is  evidenced  in  many  ways.  Before  he  had 
been  installed  a  month  plans  were  made  for  a  visitation  c^f 
the  congregation  by  the  elders,  the  borough  being  divided 
into  four  districts,  and  two  elders  assigned  to  each  section. 
At  the  same  meeting  of  session  it  was  resolved  to  take 
measures  to  hold  "prayer  meetings  in  pri\'ate  houses  in 
dififerent  parts  of  the  congregation." 

The  annual  report  of  the  congregation  in  April,  1873, 


r,4  HISTORY    OF    THE    FIRST    PRESBYTERIAN 

gives  five  added  during  the  year  on  examination,  four 
added  by  letter,  and  a  total  membership  at  that  time  of  413. 
The  membership  of  the  Sabbath  School  is  given  as  190. 
April  18,  1873,  "The  Superintendent  of  the  Sabbath  School 
stated  to  the  session  that  the  teachers  upon  consultation 
were  of  opinion  that  the  sessions  of  the  school  should  be 
in  the  afternoon  instead  of  the  morning.  It  was  therefore 
resolved  that  session  approve  of  said  change."  Before  the 
close  of  the  first  year  of  this  new  pastorate  the  church  suf- 
fered a  great  loss  in  the  death  of  Dr.  Wilmer  Worth  in  gton, 
who  had  most  faithful!}-  served  as  an  elder  for  almost  forty 
years,  having  been  chosen  to  that  office  soon  after  the  or- 
ganization of  the  church.  He  died  September  n,  1873. 
From  the  minute  of  the  session  the  following  trilmte  is 
taken  :  "For  a  period  of  nearly  thirty-seven  years,  he  ex- 
hibited in  his  daily  walk  and  conversation  the  power  and 
beauty  of  the  religion  of  Christ.  I''aithful  in  the  discharge 
of  every  duty  pertaining  to  his  high  vocation  as  an  office- 
bearer in  the  church,  he  was  always  a  valuable  counselor, 
a  safe  guide  and  an  exemplar  in  every  good  word  and  work. 
Occupying  in  the  providence  of  Gotl  a  prominent  position 
in  the  community  in  which  his  lot  was  cast,  he  was  uni- 
versally esteemed  as  a  good  man  and  beloved  as  a  physi- 
cian. Chosen  by  his  fellow-citizens  to  places  of  trust  and 
responsibility  in  the  State,  requiring  constant  intercourse 
with  all  classes  of  men.  he  never  compromised  his  Chris- 
tian integrity.  He  has  left  to  the  church  the  legacy  of  a 
blauTcless  life  and  transmitted  to  his  friends  an  unsullied 
reputation." 

January  28,  1874,  "The  Session  deemed  it  important 
that  the  younger  men  of  the  church  and  congregation 
should  be  more  interested  in  the  affairs  of  the  church  and 
identified  with  it  and  its  welfare,  and  believing  that  these 
results  may  be  accomplished  by  assigning  to  them  active 
duties  such  as  taking  up  the  collections  in  the  church,  at- 
tending to  strangers  who  may  come  to  the  church,  etc.,  ap- 
pointed a  committee  of  the  session  to  "report  to  the  ses- 
sion at  an  adjourned  meeting  the  names  of  such  persons  as 


CHURCH,    OF   WEST    CHESTER.    PA. 


will  be  suitable  and  likely  to  engage  in  the.se  duties." 

At  the  next  meeting  the  committee  reported  the  fol- 
lowing names  "as  suitable  to  perform  the  duties  referred 
to:"  William  H.  Morgan,  William  H.  Hodgson,  Herman 
F.  Wyers,  John  P.  Thornbury,  George  F.  Smith,  Charles 
B.  Lee,  George  Kerr,  Charles  M.  Crowell,  W.  Marshall 
Swayne,  William  H.  Burns,  Alexander  A.  Parker,  Charles 
F.  Cornell,  William  H.  Dock,  William  M.  Swayne,  Jr., 
George  McElree,  William  T.  Barber,  William  Thorp,  Rich- 
ard B.  Swayne  and  Henry  B.  Pepper. 

In  providing  for  the  pastor's  vacation  in  1874  the  fol- 
lowing action  was  taken  by  the  session  :  "It  was  resolved 
that  during  the  absence  of  the  pastor  in  his  summer  vaca- 
tion, the  church  shall  be  opened  every  Sabbath  morning,  ser- 
vices to  be  conducted  by  the  elders,  and  that  Messrs.  Reid 
and  Barber  be  a  committee  to  make  the  necessary  arrange- 
ments for  carrying  the  resolution  into  efifect." 

It  is  learned  that  this  action  was  taken  because  of  the 
condition  of  the  finances  of  the  church,  and  that  the  idea 
was  to  have  a  sermon  read  by  one  of  the  elders  at  each  ser- 
vice. It  appears  that  the  two  elders  named  as  the  commit- 
tee to  carry  the  resolution  into  efifect  were  compelled  to  do 
the  reading  themselves.  At  all  events  it  is  not  remembered 
that  any  other  elders  acted  in  that  capacity.  And  this  may 
account  for  the  action  of  the  session  the  following  summer 
when  "Messrs.  McCullough  and  Robinson  were  appointed 
a  committee  to  provide  according  to  their  discretion  for 
services  in  the  church  during  the  absence  of  the  pastor." 

For  some  time  past  reference  is  made  in  the  minutes 
of  session  to  meeting  the  expenses  of  the  Sabbath  School 
at  Harmony  Hill,  but  it  appears  from  a  minute  of  June  30, 
1875,  that  efforts  were  now  being  made  to  ])rovidc  a  build- 
ing there  for  the  better  prosecution  of  religious  work.  "It 
was  resolved  that  the  remainder  of  the  money  collected  for 
the  Memiorial  Fund,  now  in  the  hands  of  the  committee  be 
appropriated  towards  the  cost  of  erecting  the  chapel  at  Har- 
mony Hill,  after  the  title  of  the  lot  for  said  chapel  shall 
have  been  conveved   in   accordance   with   direction   of  this 


56  HISTORY    OF   THE    FIRST    PRESBYTERIAN 

session."  A  committee  of  session  was  appointed  "to  report 
a  plan  for  the  conveyance  of  the  Harmony  Hill  Chapel  lot 
in  trnst." 

The  spirit  with  which  this  work  was  undertaken  and 
carried  on  is  shown  in  the  plan  adopted,  which  provided 
that  the  lot  was  to  be  held  in  trust  with  the  understanding 
that  "if  a  church  be  org-anized  at  Harmony  Hill  in  five 
years,  in  connection  with  the  Presbyterian  Church  in  the 
United  States,"  then  the  men  holding  the  deed  in  trust 
shall  convey  the  lot  to  the  corporation  of  such  church  ;  and 
if  no  such  church  be  organized  within  that  time,  then  to 
conve}'  the  same  as  shall  be  directed  by  the  session  and 
trustees  of  this  church." 

After  serving  this  church  in  the  eldership  for  more 
than  forty-one  years,  P.  Frazer  Smith,  Esq.,  was  on  No- 
vember ID,  1875,  at  his  own  request,  granted  a  certificate 
of  admission  to  unite  with  the  b^irst  Presbyterian  Church 
of  Philadelphia. 

The  years  1875  and  "76  were  fruitful  in  large  additions 
to  the  church.  In  April,  1876,  the  report  for  the  past  year 
shows  34  added  by  examination,  17  by  certificate,  a  total 
of  51  in  all.  The  following  annual  report  shows  45  added 
by  examination,  and  12  by  letter,  a  total  of  57. 

This  manifest  favor  of  God  may  have  influenced  the 
session  to  provide  for  the  very  interesting  and  helpful  mem- 
orial service  that  was  held  in  July,  1876,  and  known  subse- 
quently as  the  forty-third  anniversary  of  the  church.  At  a 
meeting  of  session,  June  21,  the  following  action  was  taken : 
"This  being  a  Centennial  year  of  our  nation,  it  was  resolved 
to  hold  a  memorial  service  on  the  fourth  Sabbath  of  Jnly, 
and  that  all  the  former  pastors  of  the  church  now  living 
to  wit.  Rev.  James  J.  Grafif,  of  Annapolis,  Md.,  Rev.  John 
Crowell,  of  Odessa,  Delaware,  and  Rev.  William  E.  Moore, 
of  Columbus,  Ohio,  be  invited  to  be  present  and  participate 
with  the  pastor.  Rev.  B.  T.  Jones  in  the  exercises.  That 
the  exercises  consist  of  a  historical  discourse  in  the  morn- 
ing by  the  Rev.  Dr.  Moore,  a  sermon  in  the  afternoon  by 
the  Rev.  Mr.  Crowell,  a  sermon  in  the  evening  by  the  Rev. 


CHURCH,    OP   WEST    CHESTER,    PA. 


Mr.  Graft",  and  the  reading  by  the  pastor  of  a  sermon  writ- 
ten by  the  first  pastor,  Rev.  W.  A.  Stevens  (now  deceased)  ; 
and  that  on  Monday  evening  following,  there  be  held  a 
social  gathering  at  the  church." 

This  plan  was  carried  out  with  great  acceptance  and 
profit  to  the  church.  The  "Historical  Discourse,"  by  Dr. 
Moore,  was  published  in  full  in  the  "Daily  Local,"  and  is 
incorporated  almost  entirely  in  this  historical  sketch.  To 
Dr.  Moore's  exhaustive  research  we  are  indebted  for  much 
that  would  not  otherwise  have  been  preserved. 

In  the  summer  of  1876  the  session  adopted  a  plan 
which  was  followed  for  several  years.  "Mr.  Samuel  S. 
Cryor,  a  licentiate  of  Princeton  Seminary  was  by  arrange- 
ment made  with  the  trustees  of  the  church  engaged  to 
spend  the  months  of  May,  June,  July  and  August,  laboring 
in  the  bounds  of  the  congregation  and  preaching  at  the 
various  points  within  the  border  of  the  congregation,  and 
aiding  the  pastor  with  great  acceptance  and  profit."  Other 
students  from  Princeton  Seminary  were  engaged  the  fol- 
lowing years,  and  always  with  great  satisfaction  and  good 
results. 

As  we  have  already  seen,  the  congregation  adopted 
the  "term  service"  for  elders,  April  13,  1872,  which  was 
carried  out  by  electing  a  full  list  of  elders  every  three  years, 
and  might  involve  an  entire  change  of  the  members  of 
session,  except  the  pastor  at  any  election. 

At  the  second  election  of  session  under  this  plan.  Sab- 
bath April  14,  1878,  official  notice  was  taken  of  a  change 
in  the  Constitution  of  the  Presbyterian  Church  in  the 
United  States  of  America,  by  which  it  was  required  that 
if  any  congregation  desired  to  elect  elders  for  a  term  of 
years,  it  could  be  done  "provided  the  full  term  be  not  less 
than  three  years,  and  the  session  be  made  to  consist  of 
three  classes,  one  of  which  only  shall  be  elected  every  year." 

The  church  resolved  to  hereafter  conform  to  the  pro- 
visions of  said  amendment,  and  further  resolved  to  elect 
six  elders  "without  reference  to  their  term  of  office,  and 
that  those  elected  should  designate  among  themselves,  two 


HISTORY   OF  THE   FIRST  PRESBYTERIAN 


to  ser\'e  for  three  }'ears.  two  to  serve  for  two  years,  and 
two  for  one  year,  in  order  that  henceforth  there  might  be, 
each  year,  an  election  of  two  elders  to  serve  for  three 
years." 

The  election  and  the  snbsequent  arrangement  made 
by  the  session  resulted  in  William  McCullough  and  Wil- 
liam' V.  Husted  to  serve  for  three  years,  John  G.  Robison 
and  William  E.  Barber  to  serve  for  two  years,  and  Paul  F. 
Whitehead  and  Alfred  P.  Reid  to  serve  for  one  year. 

The  Presbyterian  Church  at  Dilworthtown  was  organ- 
ized in  the  spring  of  1878,  and  on  April  12,  of  that  year,  the 
session  of  this  church  met  in  adjourned  meeting  at  the  Dil- 
worthtown Church  and  dismissed  fifteen  members,  giving 
them  letters  to  unite  with  the  Dilworthtown  Church. 

Since  April  18.  1873,  the  sessions  of  the  Sabbath  School 
were  held  in  the  afternoon  instead  of  the  morning,  which 
had  been  the  time  of  meeting  before  that  date.  The  after- 
noon continued  to  be  the  time  of  meeting  both  winter  and 
summer  until  June  4,  1879,  when  the  session  received  a 
communication  from  the  teachers  of  the  Sabbath  School 
asking  that  the  sessions  of  the  school  during  the  summer 
months  be  held  on  Sabbath  morning.  "After  due  consider- 
ation it  was  ordered  that  the  sessions  of  the  Sabbath 
School  hereafter  be  held  during  the  months  of  June,  July, 
August  and  September  at  9  o'clock  on  Sabbath  morning." 

The  fidelity  of  the  session  is  shown  in  the  action  taken 
December  5,  1879.  *"It  was  resolved  that  the  session  begin 
a  systematic  visitation  of  the  families  connected  with  the 
church ;  and  Monday,  Tuesday  and  Friday  evenings  of  each 
week  were  set  apart  for  that  purpose;  notice  to  be  given 
from  the  pulpit  of  such  resolution,  and  each  family  to  be 
notified  by  postal  when  they  would  be  visited." 

Under  such  conscientious  oversight  the  church  in- 
creased in  numbers  and  endeavored  with  more  and  more 
wisdom  and  zeal  to  do  the  work  God  had  committed  to  it 
to  accomplish.  The  annual  report  in  April,  1880,  shows  a 
total  of  455  communicants,  and  a  Sabbath  School  member- 


CHl'RCH.    OF   WEST    CHESTER,    PA.  50 

ship  of  660,  doubtless  including  all  the  Sabbath  Schools  un- 
der the  care  of  the  session  of  this  church. 

In  view  of  the  growth  of  the  colored  population  in 
West  Chester,  this  church  recognized  a  responsibility  in 
that  direction,  and  at  a  meeting  of  session,  September  15, 
1880,  "The  feasibility  and  propriety  of  establishing  a  Pres- 
byterian Sabbath  School  among  the  colored  people  was  dis- 
cussed," and  a  committee  from  the  session  and  congrega- 
tion was  "appointed  to  inquire  into  the  matter  and  organ- 
ize one  if  practicable." 

This  school  for  colored  children  was  opened  in  Hart- 
man  Naylor's  school  room,  then  located  on  the  south  side 
of  West  Gay  street,  about  half  way  between  High  and 
Church  streets.  The  Treasurer  of  the  session  was  directed 
to  pay  Mr.  Naylor  the  rent  for  the  use  of  the  room  as  it 
falls  due,  $4  per  month.  Hartman  Naylor  was  appointed 
by  the  session.  Superintendent  of  the  Colored  Sabbath 
School. 

Out  of  this  work  there  there  grew  eventually  the  Sec- 
ond Presl)yterian  Church  (colored)  which  was  organized 
by  the  Presbytery  in  1887,  and  now  owns  a  nice  church 
property  on  South  Walnut  street,  and  is  doing  good  work. 

In  i88r  the  trustees  ])urchased  the  house  and  lot  at  317 
West  Miner  street,  for  $6500,  which  has  since  been  used 
as  a  manse. 

This  church  seems  never  to  have  succeeded  in  main- 
taining a  Board  of  Deacons,  but  this  history  would  be  in- 
complete if  no  mention  was  made  of  an  endeavor  in  this 
direction,  made  at  the  election  of  elders,  April  30,  1882.  "At 
a  meeting  of  the  communicants,  convened  after  due  notice, 
for  the  election  of  Elders  and  Deacons,  the  following  per- 
sons were  elected  Elders :  For  three  years,  Alfred  P.  Reid 
and  Paul  F.  Whitehead,  to  succeed  themselves.  For  one 
year,  Herman  F.  Wyers,  to  succeed  William  E.  Barber, 
who  died  April  13,  1882. 

After  due  consideration  of  the  propriety  of  having  a 
Board  of  Deacons,  it  was  decided,  "That  it  is  for  the  best 
interests   of  the   church   to   complete   its   organization   and 


60  HISTORY   OF  THE   FIRST   PRESBYTERIAN 

obey  the  Scriptural  injunction  by  proceeding  to  elect  six 
(6)  Deacons,  who  shall  arrange  themselves  into  three 
classes  whose  terms  of  service  shall  expire  in  one,  two  and 
three  years  respectively,  so  that  hereafter  an  election  for 
two  (2)  Deacons  to  serve  three  (3)  years  shall  be  held  an- 
nually, at  the  same  time  that  the  Elders  are  elected." 

Accordingly  the  following  persons  were  elected  Dea- 
cons: William  P.  Schell,  Samuel  M.  Brown,  J.  Gheen 
Morgan,  William  Dowlin,  W.  W .  AlacElree,  William  C. 
Husted. 

As  was  directed  the  arrangement  into  classes  was  ac- 
complished as  follows : 

To  serve  three  years,  J.  Gheen  Morgan  and  William 
Dowlin  ;  to  serve  two  years,  William  P.  Schell  and  Samuel 
M.  Brown;  to  serve  one  year.  \W  W.  MacElree  and  W^il- 
liam  C.  Husted. 

The  following  Sabbath  all  the  above  Deacons  were  or- 
dained and  installed,  as  was  also  the  newly  elected  elder, 
the  other  elders  being  reinstalled. 

Mr,  William  E.  Barber  held  the  office  of  Ruling  Elder 
in  this  church  for  ten  years  lacking  one  day,  entering  upon 
his  duties,  April  14,  1872,  and  dying  April  13,  1882.*  In  the 
memorial  minute  adopted  by  the  session,  reference  is 
made  to  his  services  as  Superintendent  of  the  Sabbath 
School  for  more  than  twelve  years,  as  long  as  his  health 
would  permit ;  and  also  to  the  fact  that  he  organized  the 
Harmony  Hill  Sabbath  School  and  conducted  it  for  several 
years.  Mention  is  also  made  of  his  connection  with  the 
Marshallton  Sal^bath  School. 

"Mr.  Barber  was  thoroughly  grounded  in  the  doctrines 
of  the  Bible,  and  well  versed  in  Presbyterian  Polity  *  * 
*  *  His  hand  and  heart  were  always  at  the  service  of 
any  cause  that  had  for  its  object  the  good  of  men  and  the 
honor  of  Christ.  He  loved  the  church.  To  him  her  sanctu- 
ary was  God's  temple ;  her  ministers,  God's  messengers, 
and  her  ordinances,  God's  handwriting.  The  Lord  Jesus 
Christ  was  his  master  whom  he  loved  with  ever  increasing 
affection.        ■"       '■'        ''"        As   a  member  of  this  session   he 


CHURCH,    OP    WEST    CHESTER,    PA. 


was  a  valuable  counselor,  careful  for  the  honor  and  in- 
tegrity of  the  church,  and  for  the  spiritual  welfare  of  the 
flock.  His  words  of  counsel  in  public  and  in  private  were 
freighted  with  heavenly  manna  and  perfumed  with  a  celes- 
tial fragrance." 

The  years  of  Dr.  Jones'  pastorate  were  marked  by  a 
constant  and  healthy  growth,  and  the  happy  relations  ex- 
isting between  pastor  and  people  might  have  continued  in- 
definitely except  for  the  fact  that  on  Alarch  14,  1883,  the 
pastor  "informed  the  session  that  he  had  been  elected  to 
fill  the  Chair  of  General  and  Sacred  Rhetoric  at  Lincoln 
University,  and  that  he  considered  it  his  duty  to  accept  the 
position." 

At  the  congregational  meeting  called  to  take  action 
there  was  a  regretful  acquiescence  with  the  pastor  in  his 
request  to  Presbytery  for  a  dissolution  of  the  pastoral  re- 
lation, and  on  April  11,  1883,  Presbytery  dissolved  the  pas- 
toral relation  to  take  efifect  May  ist. 

From  the  recorded  action  of  the  congregation  at  the 
meeting  above  referred  to  the  following  is  selected : 

"Resolved,  That  while  sincerely  regretting  the  neces- 
sity for  a  severance  of  the  ties  that  have  bound  us  together 
as  pastor  and  people  for  the  last  ten  years,  and  greatly  pre- 
ferring the  uninterrupted  continuance  of  the  same,  we  rec- 
ognize the  fact  that  our  pastor  is  not  the  servant  of  this 
or  of  any  particular  church,  but  only  of  the  great  'Head  of 
the  Church.'  and  that  confidence  in  him  and  in  his  judg- 
ment requires  us  to  acquiesce  in  his  recjuest,  in  a  matter 
in  which  he  is  positive  and  decided  that  his  duty  is  clear, 

"Resolved,  That  we  desire  in  view  of  the  separation 
about  to  take  place,  to  bear  testimony  to  our  love  for  Mr. 
Jones  as  a  pastor,  to  our  admiration  for  him  as  an  effective 
preacher  of  the  Word  of  God,  and  to  our  confidence  in  him 
as  a  conscientious,  spiritually-minded  Christian,  as  well  as 
to  our  appreciation  of  the  able  and  unselfish  manner  in 
which  he  has  performed  his  pastoral  and  ministerial  duties 
in  our  midst;  and  our  earnest  prayer  is  that  he  may  be 
speedily  and   completely   restored   to  health,  and   that   the 


62  HISTOFiY    OF   THE    FIRST    I'RESBYTERIAN 

blessing  of  God  may  accompany  and  abide  with  him  and 
his  household  in  his  new  field  of  labor." 

During  the  ten  years  of  Dr.  Jones'  pastorate,  two  hun- 
dred and  seventeen  had  been  received  into  the  church  by 
examination,  and  one  hundred  and  fourteen  by  letter,  mak- 
ing three  hundred  and  thirty-one  in  all.  The  statistical  re- 
port for  the  year  ending  April  i,  1883,  shows  a  total  number 
of  communicants  of  446.  The  Sabbath  School  membership 
is  reported  as  follows:  Church  Schools,  330;  Colored 
School,  100;  four  (4)  Country  Mission  Schools,  275;  making 
a  total  of  705. 

It  is  noted  in  the  record  of  the  election  of  elders,  April 
19.  1883.  that  an  election  of  deacons  was  held  also  accordr 
ing  to  the  plan  adoptefl  the  year  before,  and  the  two  dea- 
cons elected  for  one  year  were  re-elected  to  serve  three 
years,  but  thereafter,  for  some  reason,  there  was  no  notice 
given  at  the  time  for  the  election  of  elders  that  any  deacons 
would  be  elected.  Thus  ended,  after  such  a  brief  period, 
all  efforts  to  maintain  what  had  been  undertaken  with  such 
promise  of  much  advantage  to  the  church. 

Asked  to  prepare  an  estimate  of  Rev.  Dr.  Jones,  as  he 
is  affectionately  remembered  by  those  who  were  privileged 
to  know  him  and  to  come  under  his  influence,  Arthur  T. 
Parke,  Esq.,  one  of  the  present  elders  of  this  church,  has 
submitted  the  following: 

"Rev.  Benjamin  T.  Jones  was  a  man  of  somewhat 
slight  physique,  of  dignified  bearing,  and  of  scholarly  at- 
tainments. He  came  to  West  Chester  in  his  early  man- 
hood, with  all  the  enthusiasm  of  youth,  and  with  a  mental 
and  spiritual  equipment,  which  made  him  at  once  a  vital 
force  in  the  community.  He  was  a  man  of  strong  convic- 
tions, of  Puritanic  and  Spartan  habits  of  life,  and  possessed 
of  a  zeal  for  his  Master  and  the  Church  which  proved  to  be 
contagious. 

"From  the  moment  of  his  advent  to  our  town  he  at- 
tracted men,  and  especially  young  men,  to  him.  He  en- 
listed the  members  of  his  session  in  active  and  quickened 
service,   and  organized  a  class  for  regular  and  systematic 


CHURCH,    OF    WEST    CHESTER.    PA.  63 

study  of  the  Bible,  which  inchided  in  its  number  many  of 
the  young  men  of  the  town.  His  energy  led  him  to  extend 
his  activities  beyond  the  limits  of  the  borough,  and,  with 
the  earnest  co-operation  of  the  members  of  the  church,  he 
established  Sabbath  Schools  and  preaching  stations  in  out- 
lying country  districts. 

"His  sermons  were  masterly  productions,  delivered 
for  the  most  part  from  manuscript,  and  from  time  to  time 
repeated  by  request.  He  accepted  the  Scriptures  as  un- 
cjuestioned  authority  in  faith  and  practice,  and  was  devoted 
to  the  doctrine  of  the  Presbyterian  Creed.  He  was  always 
accorded  a  prominent  place  in  the  Councils  of  the  Church. 
He  found  the  First  Presbyterian  Church  of  West  Chester 
occupying  a  leading  position  in  the  Presbytery  of  Chester 
and  he  maintained  its  prestige  and  advanced  its  standing." 

Rev.  J.  B.  Kendall,  D.  D.,  President  of  Lincoln  Uni- 
versity, was  requested  to  give  his  impressions  of  Rev.  B. 
T.  Jones,  D.  D.,  and  has  kindly  furnished  the  following: 

"Dr.  Jones  came  as  a  young  man  to  the  important 
church  in  ^Vest  Chester  in  Chester  Presbytery.  Straight 
as  an  arrow,  spare,  quick  and  graceful  in  movement,  one 
could  not  but  look  at  him  with  a  kind  of  fascination.  And 
then  when  in  Presbytery  or  at  installations  or  in  public 
service  he  rose  to  speak,  the  clear  resonant  voice,  the 
chaste,  forceful  sentences,  the  apt  and  beautiful  illustra- 
tions, the  evident  sincerity  and  conviction  that  prompted 
all  his  utterances,  all  riveted  the  attention  and  retained  it 
until  he  sat  down.  I  can  directl}-  remember  the  time,  when 
he  first  took  possession  of  my  warmest  admiration. 

"A  motion  was  made  to  disorganize  and  disband  the 
church  at  Doe  Run  on  the  ground  that  all  further  assist- 
ance was  a  waste  of  sacred  mone}^  And  the  motion  came 
from  one  of  the  recognized  leaders  of  the  Presbytery.  Dr. 
Jones,  still  a  comparative  stranger  in  the  Presbytery, 
sprang  to  his  feet  and  said  it  was  the  custom  in  heathen 
lands  to  strangle  and  destroy  parents  who  had  grown  old 
and  feeble,  but  Christendom  gloried  in  the  privilege  of  then 
rendering-  the  tenderest  ministrv.     The  name  of  Doe  Run 


HISTORY    OF   THE    FIRST    PRESBYTERIAN 


remained  on  the  roll  of  churches.  Then  came  an  adjourned 
meeting  of  Presbytery  to  install  a  pastor  at  Doe  Run,  if 
the  way  should  be  clear.  But  before  the  way  could  be  clear 
nearly  $ioo  was  needed,  and  again  he  promptly  went  to  the 
platform,  and  said  that  he  had  been  advised  by  some  of  his 
friends  to  put  a  little  more  meal  in  the  barrel  and  give  a  little 
less  to  benevolence,  but  that  this  was  a  time  for  benevolence 
and  prompt  benevolence,  and  his  hand  went  into  his  pocket 
and  brought  out  $5,  and  there  he  stood  pleading  until  the 
$100  was  raised,  and  now,  he  said,  the  way  is  clear  to  pro- 
ceed with  the  installation,  and  he  modestly  went  back  aud 
took  his  seat,  and  the  installation  proceeded. 

"From  that  tinve  on  1  felt  that  he  was  a  wise,  large- 
hearted  leader,  and  safe  to  follow.  And  then  as  the  years 
went  on  the  day  came  when  Lincoln  University  needed  a 
Professor.  My  thought  at  once  went  out  to  Dr.  Jones.  I 
was  pronounced  a  visionary,  but  I  clung  to  my  view  that 
he  was  influenced  not  by  material  considerations  but  by  his 
conscience,  and  if  we  could  appeal  to  his  conscience,  'he 
would  come.  And  the  appeal  was  made  and  the  conscience 
was  gained.  His  devoted  church  offered  him  a  year's  va- 
cation, and  a  continuance  of  salary,  and  an  extra  $1000 
for  a  year's  travel  abroad.  But  he  had  devoted  himself  to 
what  he  believed  was  the  call  of  God,  and  he  closed  his  ears 
to  these  generous  plans  of  his  devoted  flock.  Still  later  he 
was  called  to  a  church  ofifering  three  times  the  salary  he 
was  receiving  at  Lincoln  L^niversity,  but  he  remained  where 
his  conscience  bade  him  stay  until  God  called  him  to  his 
service  and  reward  above.  He  was  the  first  Professor  of 
the  English  Bible  in  any  institution  in  our  land,  and  there 
never  can  be  a  better. 

"He  belie^'ed  the  Bible  from  lid  to  lid,  and  he  believed 
it  was  the  power  of  God  unto  salvation.  He  loved  it  and 
taught  it  with  a  glowing  earnestness.  On  more  than  one 
occasion  as  professors  and  students  were  on  some  of  the 
messianic  passages  and  hearts  were  burning,  he  would 
suddenly  stop   and   call   on   some   student   to   pray  and  he 


JOHN    CALVIN    CALDWELL 
Pastor,  1883-1892 


CHURCH,    OF    WEST    CHESTER,    PA. 


would  follow,  and  when  their  eyes  were  opened,  it  was  as 
if  they  saw  Jesus  only. 

"He  was  taken  home  in  the  noontide  of  usefulness. 
And  to  this  day  I  cannot  realize  that  he  has  gone.  It  seems 
as  if  I  ought  to  be  able  to  see  his  earnest,  spiritual  face,  and 
to  hear  the  words  welling  up  from'  his  full  enriched  soul. 
His  sermons  were  highly  intellectual,  and  they  were  also 
full  of  feeling,  but  above  all  the  appeal  was  to  the  con- 
science. The  glowing  imperative  of  duty  ran  through  all 
his  preaching.  No  man  was  more  sought  or  more  effective 
in  seasons  of  religious  interest.  Fagg's  Manor,  New  Lon- 
don and  Kennett  Square,  all  experienced  gracious  revivals 
under  his  ministry  while  he  was  with  us  at  Lincoln. 

"He  was  peculiarly  sensitive  about  counting  the 
sheaves  and  recei\4ng  glory  from  men.  One  time  when  a 
reporter  Avanted  to  know  how  many  had  been  converted 
under  his  preaching  at  one  of  these  places,  he  denied  all 
knowledge  and  showed  righteous  indignation  that  he 
should  be  reckoned  an  agent  of  conversion.  I  never  knew 
a  servant  more  completely  hid  behind  his  Master. 

"I  am  his  debtor.  No  man  had  more  influence  over  me 
either  by  his  life  or  by  his  words.  In  all  her  history  Lin- 
coln University  has  never  had  a  more  winsome  or  nobler 
Professor.  Every  where  he  has  been  there  are  long,  loving, 
lingering  memories.  And  never  was  it  more  true  of  any  of 
God's  servants,  'He  being  dead  yet  speaketh.'  " 

REV.   JOHN   CALVIN   CALDWELL. 

Fortunately  the  church  was  soon  led  to  the  unanimous 
election  of  a  pastor,  the  congregational  meeting  for  that 
])urpose  being  held  on  July  2,  when  the  Rev.  John  Calvin 
Caldwell,  D.  D.,  of  Chambersburg,  Pa.,  was  given  a  call, 
which  he  accepted,  entering  upon  his  work  August  20, 
1883.     He  was  installed  by  Presbytery,  October  10,  1883. 

It  was  soon  after  the  settlement  of  Dr.  Caldwell  as 
pastor  that  the  body  of  the  Rev.  William  A.  Stevens,  the 


HISTORY    OP   THE    FIRST   PRESBYTERIAN 


first  pastor  of  this  clnirch.  was  removed  to  Oaklands  Ceme- 
tery. 

This  removal  was  first  suggested  by  Addison  May, 
Esq.,  an  uncle  of  Mr.  Stevens,  who  expressed  to  the  Session 
and  Board  of  Trustees  his  desire  that  the  body  might  be  re- 
moved to  his  famil}-  lot.  Therefore  at  the  meeting  of  Session, 
November  7,  1883,  "P-  F.  \\'hitehead  and  A.  P.  Reid  were 
appointed  a  committee  to  attend  to  the  removal  of  the  re- 
mains of  Rev.  Wm.  A.  Stevens,  first  pastor  of  this  church, 
from  their  present  location  near  the  church  l>uilding.  to 
the  lot  of  Addison  May.  Esq..  Oaklands  Cemetery,  accord- 
ing to  the  request  of  the  Board  of  Trustees." 

The  annual  statistical  report  for  the  year  ending  April 
I.  1883.  gives  22  as  received  on  examination  during  the 
year,  and  19  by  letter,  in  all  41.  making  the  total  member- 
ship reported  at  that  date,  452.  Sabbath  School  member- 
ship is  given  as  follows:  Church  Schools.  333;  Colored 
vSchool.  56;  five  countr}'  schools,  335,  making  in  all  a  total 
of  724. 

The  custom  of  obtaining  the  services  of  a  theological 
student  for  the  summer  months  had  been  kept  up  each 
year.  (3n  May  31,  1884,  the  session  took  action  as  follows: 
"In  accordance  with  our  usual  custom  of  engaging  the 
services  of  a  theological  student  for  the  summer  months, 
the  Rev.  George  F.  Greene,  of  Princeton  Theological  Sem- 
inary, accepted  the  place,  and  is  now  laboring  within  the 
bounds  of  our  congregation  under  the  direction  of  the  pas- 
tor. It  was  directed  that  at  the  close  of  his  labors  the 
treasurer  of  the  session  shall  be  authorized  to  ])ay  him  $50, 
which  amount  is  in  addition  to  the  usual  sum  paid  by  the 
trustees." 

In  the  fall  of  that  year,  death  again  visited  the  session, 
removing  Paul  F.  Whitehead,  who  died  October  14,  1884. 
He  was  ordained  to  the  eldership  April  24,  1878.  In  the 
memorial  minute  adopted  by  the  session,  after  referring  to 
his  services  as  chorister  for  twelve  }-ears,  and  his  long 
labors  as  teacher  in  the  Sabbath  School,  it  continues  as  fol- 
lows :     "He  was  faithful  to  everv  trust.     He  was  conscien- 


CHURCH.    OF    WEST    CHESTER,    PA. 


tious  in  the  performance  of  every  duty.  His  life  was  full 
of  sweet  charity.  His  heart  was  warm  and  loving.  His  dis- 
position was  cheerful  and  obliging.  He  was  sturdy  and 
zealous  for  the  right.  He  was  devoted  to  his  church.  He 
was  loyal  to  his  Master.  He  grew  in  grace  daily.  He  will 
be  iTfissed  at  the  fireside,  where  he  was  the  revered  hus- 
band and  father.  He  will  be  missed  in  the  community 
which  trusted  him  implicitly.  He  will  be  missed  in  the 
social  circle  where  his  presence  had  a  quiet  and  hallowing 
influence.  He  will  be  missed  in  every  department  of 
church  work  where  his  wise  counsel  and  ready  help  were 
always  seen  and  felt.  He  will  be  missed  in  the  eldership 
which  he  adorned." 

At  the  election  of  elders.  April  19,  1885.  Mr.  J.  Gheen 
Morgan  was  chosen  to  fill  the  vacancy  caused  by  the  death 
of  Paul  F.  Whitehead,  and  he  was  ordained  and  installed, 
on  Sabbath,  April  26. 

Early  in  the  fall  of  this  year  the  pews  were  declared 
free  on  Sabbath  evenings  and  on  Communion  Sabbaths, 
cottage  prayer  meetings  were  planned,  and  the  borough 
was  districted  for  sessional  oversight,  one  elder  being  ap- 
pointed for  each  division. 

The  following  summer,  Air.  H.  F.  Means,  a  student  of 
the  \\'estern  Theological  Seminary  was  engaged  to  work 
in  the  bounds  of  the  congregation  during  the  usual  number 
of  months. 

The  annual  statistical  re])ort  for  the  year  ending  April 
I,  1886.  gives  the  total  number  of  communicants  then  on 
the  roll,  460.  The  Sabbath  School  membership  is  given  as 
follows:  Church  School.  356;  Colored  School,  70;  three 
country  schools.  156,  making  a  total  of  582. 

In  the  fall  of  1886  the  Colored  Sabbath  School  was 
given  new  accommodations  by  the  session  of  this  church 
renting  the  room  in  the  third  story  of  the  building  on  South 
Church  street,  then  used  by  the  Post  Office,  and  now  occu- 
pied by  the  West  Chester  Laundry.  The  annual  rental  was 
fixed  at  sixty  dollars  and  the  Clerk  and  Treasurer  of  the 
session  were  authorized  to  sign  the  agreement.    J.  N.  Hus- 


68  HISTORY   OF  THE   FIRST   PRESBYTERIAN 

ton,  Esq.,  was  Superintendent.  The  removal  of  the  school 
to  this  place  marks  the  beginning  of  religious  services  for 
the  colored  people  on  Sabbath,  Mr.  Thomas  H.  Amos,  a 
student  at  Lincoln  University,  and  a  candidate  for  the  min- 
istry, being  "appointed  to  conduct  religious  services  for  the 
colored  people  of  West  Chester,  under  the  charge  of  this 
church."  This  led  to  the  organization  of  the  Second  Pres- 
byterian Church  (Colored)  the  following  year. 

Mr.  J.  Gheen  Morgan  resigned  his  ofifice  as  Ruling 
Elder,  February  5,  1890,  which  was  accepted  by  the  session. 
At  the  regular  election  of  elders,  April  20,  1890,  Mr.  Wil- 
liam Dowlin  was  chosen  to  fill  Mr.  Morgan's  unexpired 
term. 

On  the  minutes  of  session  for  December  7,  1889,  "The 
pastor  was  authorized  to  revive  the  Sunday  evening  prayer 
meetings,  putting  them  in  charge  of  the  young  people  of 
the  church."  This  resulted  in  the  establishment  of  the 
Young  People's  Society  of  Christian  Endeavor,  which  has 
accomplished  much  in  the  work  of  this  church. 

The  formal  organization  of  the  Society  is  recorded  in 
the  minutes  under  date  of  October  14.  1890.  That  meeting 
was  held  in  response  to  an  invitation  by  the  pastor  to  the 
young  people  of  the  First  Presbyterian  Church  of  West 
Chester  to  meet  "for  the  purpose  of  forming  a  Society  for 
Christian  work  and  the  improvement  of  its  members  in 
lal)oring  for  Christ." 

"After  quite  an  explanation  of  the  working  of  various 
associations  and  particularly  the  Society  called  Christian 
Endeavor,  it  was  decided  to  form  an  association,  the  name 
to  be  decided  by  a  committee."  The  following  ofificers  were 
then  elected:  Mr.  W.  B.  Dunwoody,  President;  Mr.  H. 
T.  Ferrell,  Vice-President;  Mrs.  Ella  E.  MacElree,  Treas- 
urer, and  Miss  Sue  D.  Pinkerton,  Secretary.  The  commit- 
tee to  select  the  name  consisted  of  the  ofificers  and  Mr. 
William  C.  Husted. 

At  the  next  meeting  held  October  21,  the  committee 
reported    recommending  the  adoption  of    the  Constitution 


CHURCH,    OF   WEST    CHESTER,    PA. 


framed  for  Christian  Endeavor  Societies  and  that  the  as- 
sociation be  known  by  that  name.  It  was  decided  to  hold 
the  meetings  every  Sabbath  evening,  in  the  smaller  Sunday 
School  room,  in  the  basement  of  the  church ;  every  meet- 
ing to  begin  promptly  at  6.45  and  close  promptly  at  7.20. 
The  place  of  meeting  was  soon  changed  to  the  larger  room 
in  the  basement,  known  as  the  Lecture  Room,  to  see  if 
more  would  not  be  thus  led  to  attend. 

The  first  Lookout  Committee  consisted  of  Miss  Sue  D. 
Pinkerton,  Chairman ;  Miss  Anna  Whitehead,  Miss  Mary 
L.  Walsh,  Miss  Annie  Clark  and  Mr.  Norman  B.  Guss. 
The  other  committees  as  first  formed  were  as  follows  : 

Prayer  Meeting  Committee — Mr.  H.  T.  Ferrell,  Chair- 
man ;  Miss  Lizzie  Moore,  Miss  Lillie  AL  Temple,  Miss 
Nellie  Ross  and  Miss  Emily  Taylor. 

Calling  Committee' — Miss  Emily  Taylor,  Chairman ; 
Mrs.  H,  F.  Wyers,  Miss  Bessie  Smith,  Miss  Anna  J.  Dun- 
woody  and  Mr.  W.  B.  Dunwoody. 

Social  Committee — Mrs.  H.  F.  Wyers,  Chairman ;  Miss 
Marion  Gheen,  Miss  Emily  Taylor,  Miss  Jessie  Caldwell 
and  Mr.  Paul  Smith. 

Music  Committee — Miss  Anna  Whitehead,  Chairman ; 
Miss  V.  Bowman,  Miss  Bessie  Smith,  Miss  Annie  Clark 
and  Miss  Louisa  White. 

These  seem  to  have  been  the  only  committees  ap- 
pointed until  after  the  next  election  of  officers,  which  was 
held  April  9,  1891,  when  a  Corresponding  Secretary  was 
added,  Miss  Anna  J.  Dunwoody  being  selected  for  that 
office.  A  Sunday  School  Contmittee  and  a  Flower  Com- 
mittee were  added  to  the  list  of  committees.  Among  the 
names  not  found  in  the  first  committees,  but  now  brought 
into  the  work  we  have  the  following:  Miss  A.  Shields,  Mr. 
Sydney  Kirk,  Miss  Florence  V.  Gallagher,  Miss  Belle  Clark, 
Miss  Mabel  Taylor,  Miss  Mary  A.  Mercer,  Miss  Maud  T. 
Williams,  Miss  Lillian  Pierce,  Mr.  Flarry  Morgan,  Miss 
Mary  E.  Wilson,  Miss  Sarah  M.  Bogle,  Miss  Florence  H. 
Parker,  Miss  Minnie  A.  Johnson,  Miss  Katie  Miller,  Miss 
Fannie  D.  Musser,  Miss  Mabel  Matlack,  Miss  Ella  Beatty, 


HISTORY   OF  THE   FIRST   PRESBYTERIAN 


Mr.  Arthur  P.  Reid,  Mr.  Howard  Beatty,  Miss  Carrie  Heed, 
Miss  Lizzie  Clark,  Miss  Adda  Worrall,  Miss  Maggie  Clark, 
Miss  Ella  Parker  and  Mr.  Clarence  Stott. 

Early  in  the  year  1891  reference  is  made  in  the  min- 
utes of  session  to  the  possible  organization  of  another 
Presbyterian  Church  in  West  Chester.  Nothing  was  done 
in  the  matter,  the  minute  closing  with  the  statement  that 
"the  consideration  of  this  paper  was  postponed." 

The  next  mention  of  the  subject  is  in  a  meeting  of  the 
session,  February  12,  1892,  when  we  find  the  following 
record :  "A  communication  from  the  Outlook  Committee 
of  Chester  Presbytery  was  laid  before  the  session  as  fol- 
lo\ys : 

"At  a  regular  meeting  of  the  Outlook  Committee  of 
Chester  Presbytery  it  was  moved  and  seconded  that  the 
Secretary  be  requested  to  direct  the  session  of  the  First 
Presbyterian  Church  of  West  Chester  to  canvass  the  whole 
(|uestion  of  another  church  in  that  place  and  report  to  this 
Committee.  As  this  motion  was  unanimously  adopted,  I 
hereby  obey  the  command  of  the  Committee  and  notify  the 
session."  This  communication  was  signed  by  Rev.  Wm. 
A.  Patton,  D.  D.,  Secretary  of  the  Outlook  Committee. 

After  consideration,  the  following  paper  was  adopted: 
"The  session  of  the  First  Presbyterian  Church  of  West 
Chester,  in  response  to  the  resolution  of  the  Outlook  Com- 
mittee of  Chester  Presbytery  in  reference  to  another  Pres- 
byterian Church  in  this  place,  say :  that  they  canvassed  the 
whole  matter  of  such  an  organization  a  year  ago,  and  then 
agreed  that  it  was  very  desirable  that  such  a  church 
should  be  established  here,  and  steps  were  taken  to  that 
end,  which  failed  of  accomplishment.  And  now  on  further 
consideration  have  reached  the  conclusion  again  that  such 
a  church  is  desirable ;  therefore  the  session  trusts  the  pres- 
ent movement  will  result  in  another  Presbyterian  Church 
organization,  and  believe  that  it  is  best  it  should  be  carried 
out  as  it  has  been  conducted,  independently  of  this  session, 
without  any  control  by  or  responsibility  to  the  session." 

The  clerk  was  directed  to  send  the  above  to  the  Sec- 


CHURCH,    OF   WEST    CHESTER.    PA. 


retary  of  the  Outlook  Committee.  As  a  result  of  this  ac- 
tion. Presbytery  took  measures  to  organize  another  church, 
which  was  named  the  Westminster  Presbyterian  Church, 
and  on  ]\Iay  23.  1892,  letters  of  dismission  were  granted 
to  ninety-eight  of  the  members  of  this  church,  including  a 
majority  of  the  elders,  "to  the  Presbyterian  Church  to  be 
organized.  May  25.  1892,  by  direction  of  the  Presbytery  of 
Chester."  At  a  meeting  of  session,  June  4th,  two  additional 
letters  were  granted  to  the  newly  formed  church,  making 
one  hundred  in  all  entering  the  new  organization  from  this 
church. 

The  great  success  achieved  by  the  Westminster 
Church  under  the  blessing  of  God  has  been  exceedingly 
gratifying.  Before  the  organization  was  formed  preaching 
services  were  held  in  what  was  called  "Smith's  Hall,"  on 
East  Gay  street,  conducted  by  the  Rev.  J.  L.  Estlin,  who 
was  then  pastor  of  the  Dilworthtown  Presbyterian  Church. 
Soon  the  meetings  were  transferred  to  the  "Assembly 
Building"  on  High  street,  where  the  church  increased 
greatly.  Eventually  they  erected  a  beautiful  church  build- 
ing on  South  Church  street,  which  is  owned  by  the  congre- 
gation free  of  debt. 

Such  movements  are  seldom  effected  with  the  full  and 
hearty  concurrence  of  all  concerned,  and  this  was  no  excep- 
tion. Many  feared  that  the  prosperity  of  the  old  church 
would  be  seriously  affected  by  the  loss  of  such  a  large  num- 
ber, most  of  them  very  earnest  workers,  especially  since 
they  believed  the  borough  did  not  afiford  field  enough  for 
two  strong  churches  of  the  same  denomination.  Happily 
all  such  fears  proved  absolutely  groundless.  The  blessing 
of  God  rested  richly  upon  both  organizations,  and  before 
many  years  it  was  recognized  by  every  one  that  the  organ- 
ization of  a  new  church  had  not  been  in  any  sense  a  mis- 
take, as  manifestly  much  more  was  being  accomplished  by 
the  two  churches  working  harmoniously  side  by  side  than 
could  have  been  expected  from  one  church,  even  under  the 
most  favorable  conditions  ;  and  it  has  been  a  great  joy  to 
every  heart  to  see  the  two  churches  often  coming  together 


T2  HISTORY   OP   THE   FIRST   PRESBYTERIAN 

in  union  meetings,  and  especially  to  witness  the  unfeigned 
joy  of  the  pastor,  officers  and  members  of  the  Westminster 
Church,  as  on  the  seventy-fifth  anniversary  of  the  organi- 
zation of  the  old  church  they  gave  up  their  Sabbath  even- 
ing service  that  all  might  meet  together  to  praise  God  for 
bringing  the  old  church  to  the  end  of  three-quarters  of  a 
century  with  a  strength  and  vigor  which  had  never  been 
equalled  in  all  its  history. 

Elder  William  ]\IcCullough  did  not  live  to  see  the  or- 
ganization of  the  new  church,  as  he  died  April  2,  1892. 
From  the  memorial  minute  adopted  by  the  session,  April 
17,  the  following  is  taken: 

"The  session  desires  to  put  on  record  this  tribute  to  his 
memory.  He  was  a  consistent  and  faithful  follower  of  the 
Lord  Jesus  Christ.  He  was  an  upright  and  honorable  citi- 
zen. He  was  a  wise  and  judicious  counselor.  He  was  de- 
voted to  his  church,  and  served  her  with  all  the  energy  of 
his  nature,  and  all  the  fervor  of  a  true  love.  He  ever 
sought  her  peace,  prosi)erity  and  purity  in  doctrine  and  life. 
He  was  mild  in  speech  and  benevolent  in  every  action.  He 
passed  to  his  long  home  like  a  shock  of  corn  fully  ripe, 
to  enjoy  the  companionship  of  his  Blessed  Master,  whom 
he  had  served  nearly  his  whole  lifetime.  Blessed  is  the  man 
that  maketh  the  Lord  his  trust." 

On  Sabbath.  July  3.  1892,  the  Pastor,  Rev.  J.  C.  Cald- 
well, D.  D.,  "announced  to  the  congregation  his  intention 
of  resigning  the  pastorate  of  this  church,  and  with  the  ses- 
sion agreed  to  call  a  congregational  meeting,  to  be  held  on 
Wednesday  evening,  July  6th,  to  request  them  to  join  with 
him  in  asking  the  Presbytery  of  Chester  to  dissolve  the 
pastoral  relation  existing  between  him  and  this  church." 

This  action  the  Presbytery  took  at  a  meeting  in  this 
church,  July  12,  the  dissolution  to  take  effect  August  15, 
1892. 

The  appreciation  and  affection  of  the  church  for  their 
pastor  are  shown  in  the  resolutions  unanimously  adopted 
at  the  congregational  meeting  referred  to : 

"Whereas,  Rev.  J.  C.  Caldwell,  D.  D.,  has  asked  that 


CHURCH,    OF    WEST    CHESTER,    PA.  73 

his  pastoral  relation  with  this  church  be  dissolved,  and 
that  commissioners  be  appointed  to  the  Presbytery  of 
Chester  to  unite  with  him  in  this  request : 

"Resolved,  That  while  we  accede  to  Dr.  Caldwell's 
wishes,  we  do  so  with  sincere  and  heartfelt  sorrow,  and 
consent  with  the  greatest  reluctance  to  a  severance  of  our 
relations  with  the  beloved  pastor  of  this  church. 

"Resolved,  That  his  able  and  efficient  ministry  in  our 
midst,  his  earnest  and  faithful  service  in  season  and  out  of 
season,  his  eloquent  and  fearless  preaching  of  God's  word, 
his  afifectionate  and  tender  sympathy  with  all  who  are  in 
sorrow  or  distress,  his  constant  care  and  solicitude  for  the 
poor,  have  not  only  endeared  him-  to  the  members  of  his 
congregation,  but  have  won  him  the  regard  and  esteem  of 
all  who  know  him,  and  have  made  him  an  influence  for  good 
in  this  community. 

"Resolved  that  our  love  and  affection  will  follow  Dr. 
Caldwell  and  his  family  in  his  new  field  of  usefulness ;  that 
we  commend  him  to  the  different  communities  to  which  he 
is  called,  as  one  worthy  of  their  full  confidence  and  esteem ; 
and  our  fervent  prayer  is  that  God  will  crown  his  labors 
with  that  abundant  success  which  he  so  richly  deserves." 

John  J.  Pinkerton,  Esq.,  was  one  of  the  commissioners 
appointed  by  this  church  to  convey  to  Presbytery  the  ac- 
tion taken  at  the  congregational  meeting.     In  his  address 
•to  Presbytery,  speaking  of  Dr.  Caldwell,  he  said: 

"As  a  preacher  he  had  rare  qualities,  as  those  who 
flocked  into  the  church  and  filled  its  pews  to  its  fullest  ca- 
pacity can  testify.  In  the  language  of  Luke,  in  describing 
the  walk  with  Christ  to  Emmaus,  'He  opened  to  us  the 
Scriptures.'  He  presented  a  real  living  Christ,  not  some 
vague  definition  of  Him  which  no  one  could  understand 
and  no  one  wanted  to  hear.  He  believed  with  Robertson, 
of  Brighton,  that  belief  in  the  human  character  of  Christ 
must  be  antecedent  to  belief  in  His  Divine  origin.  And  so 
he  preached  Christ  as  He  appeared  in  the  streets  of  Naza- 
reth, a  carpenter's  son ;  as  He  appeared  on  the  mountain 
of  Judea  and  by  the  side  of  the  Galilean  Sea ;  the  Christ 


74  HISTORY   OF   THE    FIRST   PRESBYTERIAN 

who  taught  Nicodemus  and  talked  with  the  woman  at  the 
well  of  Sychar. 

"He  understood  the  wants  of  the  age  in  which  we  live 
and  preached  accordingly.       *       *       *  j^g  ^jj^j  j^q^-  ^^^y 

to  prove  that  Baruch  could  or  could  not  have  written  the 
book  of  Isaiah,  nor  labor  to  defend  the  authenticity  of  the 
fourth  Gospel ;  but  he  did  stand  in  his  place  and  with  bold- 
ness and  emphasis  condemn  the  violation  of  the  Sabbath  ; 
denounce  intemperance  and  the  sale  of  rum ;  protest  against 
venality  and  corruption  in  politics ;  warn  against  the  greed 
of  corporate  organization,  and  plead  the  cause  of  labor  and 
the  payment  of  its  just  rewards.  He  was  the  friend  of 
every  just  and  humane  cause,  and  his  name  will  long  abide 
in  this  town  as  the  imwavering  advocate  of  all  that  was 
good. 

"I  am  not  unmindful  of  the  occasion,  nor  do  I  fail  to 
appreciate  the  privilege  I  enjoy  of  addressing  this  body  of 
men  of  trained  ability  and  liberal  scholarship.  I  know  that 
their  profession,  like  my  own,  places  a  high  value  upon 
precedent  and  authority  in  all  that  relates  to  their  calling. 
And  so,  in  attempting  to  portray  another  phase  of  Dr. 
Caldwell's  character  as  a  Christian  minister,  I  beg  your  in- 
dulgence while  I  employ  not  my  own  words  but  the  words 
of  another.  They  are  the  words  of  a  man  who  is,  by  uni- 
versal designation,  one  of  the  greatest  leaders  of  the  Pres- 
byterian Church,  words  employed  by  him  in  describing, 
one  of  the  most  lamented  teachers  of  his  faith  and  practice. 
'He  never  talked  about  his  religious  states  nor  indeed  did 
he  often  talk  about  personal  religion  at  all.  There  were 
certain  phases  of  religion  that  he  did  not  like.  He  hated 
cant,  and  he  had  no  faith  in  the  modern  rose-water  evan- 
gelism that  ignored  the  guilt  of  sin  and  the  meaning  of 
atoning  blood.  He  believed  in  the  ordinances  of  the  church, 
in  the  efficacy  of  prayer,  and  the  ministry  of  the  Word.  He 
was  no  friend  of  societies,  and  pledges  and  platforms  and 
schemes  of  faith-cure  and  devices  of  propagating  religion 
by  hot-bed  culture.  He  was  thoroughly  churchly  in  his 
religion,  and  his  church  was  the  Presbyterian  Church.'  " 


WASHINGTON    ROBERT    LAIRD 
Pastor.    1S92 — 


CHURCH,    OF    WEST    CHESTER,    PA. 


The  last  annual  statistical  report  before  the  organiza- 
tion of  the  Westminster  Church  showed  a  total  member- 
ship of  461.  The  Sabbath  School  membership  was  reported 
as  follows:  Church  School,  310;  Copeland  School,  51; 
Goshenville  School,  78;  Harmony  Hill  School,  98,  making 
in  all,  537.  With  the  addition  of  12  before  the  end  of  Dr. 
Caldwell's  pastorate,  and  the  loss  of  107,  since  the  annual 
report  was  made  there  remained  reported  on  the  church 
roll  a  total  membership  of  366.  During  Dr.  Caldwell's  pas- 
torate there  had  been  received  into  membership  in  the 
church,  162  on  profession  of  faith,  and  132  by  letter,  making 
294  in  all. 

REV.   WASHINGTON   R.   LAIRD. 

The  congregation  on  October  10,  1892,  made  out  a  call 
for  the  Rev.  Washington  R.  Laird,  of  New  Castle,  Pa., 
which  was  accepted  and  Mr.  Laird  entered  upon  his  work 
in  October,  preaching  his  first  sermon  as  pastor-elect,  Oc- 
tober 30,  1892.  He  was  installed  b}-  Presbytery,  November 
17,  1892. 

A  careful  revision  of  the  roll  gave  the  total  number  of 
members  in  connection  with  the  church  at  the  beginning 
of  this  pastorate,  334.  The  annual  statistical  report,  April 
I,  1893,  showed,  with  53  added  since  the  new  pastorate  be- 
gan, a  total  membership  at  that  time  of  364. 

Only  the  Harmony  Hill  Sabbath  School  remained  in 
connection  with  the  church,  most  of  those  connected  with 
the  other  country  schools  having  joined  the  Westminster 
Church.  The  Sabbath  School  membership  in  that  annual 
report  is  given  as  follows:  Church  School,  350;  Harmony 
Hill  School,  129.    Total,  479. 

The  events  of  the  present  pastorate  are  so  familiar  to 
the  minds  of  many  that  no  history  is  required.  At  most 
there  is  only  need  for  mentioning  a  few  improvements  and 
enlargements  of  the  church  property. 

In  1893  a  handsome  chapel  was  completed,  which  had 
been  begun  in  the  fall  of  1892.     This  was  erected  on  the 


HISTORY   OP   THE   FIRST   PRESBYTERIAN 


lot  east  of  the  church,  where  a  dwelHng  that  had  formerly 
been  used  as  a  parsonage,  but  later  occupied  by  the  sexton, 
was  torn  away  to  make  room  for  it.  The  chapel  cost  when 
complete  and  furnished,  about  $21,000. 

Nothing  had  been  done  with  the  church  building  since 
1872,  except  to  keep  it  in  repair.  But  in  1905,  with  a  con- 
sciousness of  increased  ability,  a  much  larger  pipe  organ 
was  constructed  at  a  cost  of  $3100,  and  new  windows,  sev- 
eral changes  in  the  auditorium,  and  new  furnishings  se- 
cured at  a  total  cost  of  about  $7500. 

When  the  manse  was  purchased  in  1881,  a  mortgage 
was  placed  upon  it  for  $4000.  Interest  was  paid  regularly 
on  that  debt,  with  no  thought  of  trying  to  remove  it,  until 
some  years  ago,  after  the  chapel  was  fully  paid  for,  a  plan 
was  undertaken  for  paying  the  manse  debt  through  the 
Building  and  Loan  organization,  out  of  the  regular  receipts 
of  the  church.  This  has  required  between  four  and  five 
hundred  dollars  a  year  to  pay  the  entire  debt  in  some  twelve 
years,  and  only  three  of  those  years  now  remain. 

Within  the  last  two  years  a  new  steam  heating  plant 
has  been  put  into  the  manse,  giving  heat  for  the  entire 
house  from  the  Electric  Light  Works  through  pipes  laid 
in  the  street.  The  same  system  has  been  put  into  the 
church  building  and  chapel  at  a  total  cost  of  about  $1200. 

The  pastor's  study  has  been  fitted  up  beautifully  in  the 
southwest  corner  of  the  church  buildings,  with  an  entrance 
from  Darlington  street.  No  room  could  be  better  adapted 
for  the  purpose,  with  four  large  windows,  two  facing  south 
and  two  west. 

At  the  beginning  of  the  present  pastorate,  in  1892, 
there  were  but  two  ruling  elders  in  the  session,  Mr.  William 
V.  Husted  and  Mr.  John  G.  Robison.  April  i,  1893,  four 
additional  elders  were  elected :  William  C.  Husted,  Wil- 
liam C.  Hawkins,  Samuel  O.  Barber  and  Dr.  W.  K.  Thorp. 
This  made  a  session  of  six,  and  they  were  classified  as  fol- 
lows :  William  V.  Husted  and  William  C.  Hawkins,  for 
three  years ;  William^  K.  Thorp  and  John  G.  Robison  for 


RI'LING    ELDERS 

1.  William    V.    Hu.sted  3.    Paul    P.    Whitehead 

2.  John    G.    Robi^s()n  4.    William    McCuUough 

."i.   ^^'illiam    C.    Hawkins 


CHURCH,    OF    WEST    CHESTER,    PA.  77 

two  years,  and  William  C.  Husted  and  Samuel  O.  Barber, 
for  one  year. 

This  number  remained  unbroken  until  February  4, 
1897,  when  Mr.  Hawkins  died.  On  the  following  April  18, 
Samuel  D.  Ramsey,  Esq.,  was  elected  to  serve  in  his  place. 
In  the  memorial  minute  of  the  session,  on  the  death  of 
Elder  Wm.  C.  Hawkins,  we  have  the  following: 

"We  would  place  on  record  our  esteem  for  him  as  a 
brother  beloved,  our  confidence  in  his  true  Christian  char- 
acter, and  high  admiration  for  those  noble  qualities  which 
endeared  him  to  such  a  large  circle  of  friends. 

"Though  hindered  by  distance  from  meeting  with  the 
session  as  often  as  he  would  have  done  had  he  lived  nearer, 
no  one  could  fail  to  recognize  in  his  regular  attendance 
upon  religious  services  and  communions,  and  sympathetic 
fellowships  at  other  times,  his  deep  interest  in  the  church 
and  cause  of  Christ  at  large,  and  his  profound  joy  in  all 
that  evidenced  the  Lord's  favor  to  this  congregation." 

Seven 'years  later,  on  January  17,  1905,  Elder  John  G. 
Robison  went  to  his  reward.  On  the  following  April  30, 
\lr.  Herbert  McCornack  was  elected  an  elder  in  his  place. 
Elder  Robison  served  this  church  in  his  high  office,  nearly 
one-third  of  a  century.  In  his  later  years,  being  unable  to 
mingle  with  the  people  as  much  as  formerly  on  account  of 
failing  strength,  he  spent  much  time  writing  personal  let- 
ters to  his  unconverted  friends,  urging  them  to  give  their 
hearts  to  Christ.  The  influence  of  his  example  in  this  mat- 
ter, on  the  other  elders  of  the  Presbytery,  no  one  can 
measure. 

From   the   minutes  of  session   we  take  the  following: 

"Whereas,  God  in  His  providence  has  called  home  to 
his  reward  our  beloved  elder,  John  G.  Robison,  who  has 
been  a  member  of  this  session  since  April  14.  1872,  and 
who  in  all  these  years  has  manifested  such  strict  fidelity  to 
all  his  duties  as  an  elder,  such  deep  and  unselfish  love  for 
the  church,  and  such  an  intense  desire  for  the  salvation  of 
souls  and  the  upbuilding  of  the  cause  of  Christ  in  the 
world;  and  who  in  addition  to  this  was  such  an  example  in 


HISTORY   OP   THE   FIRST   PRESBYTERIAN 


wisdom  and  love  and  prudence  and  strict  integrity ;  exem- 
plary as  a  father,  as  a  business  man  and  as  a  citizen,  there- 
fore be  it  resolved:  i.  That  we  express  as  a  session  our 
gratitude  to  God  for  all  he  has  been  to  this  church,  for  the 
privilege  of  friendship  and  fellowship  with  this  dear  ser- 
vant of  Christ,  and  for  all  the  helpful  encouragement  of  his 
counsel  and  prayers  in  the  work  of  the  church  by  which  we 
have  all  been  so  richly  blessed. 

"2.  That  we  hear  in  this  the  call  of  God  to  us  who  re- 
main, to  take  up  and  carry  on  with  more  earnestness  than 
ever,  the  work  which  our  brother  has  laid  down  ;  and  that 
especially  we  will  endeavor  to  bring  to  Christ  every  uncon- 
verted person  for  whose  salvation  our  brother  by  writing 
letters  and  otherwise,  made  such  long  and  continued  effort." 

The  last  death  in  our  session  removed  the  one  who 
had  served  longest  in  the  eldership  of  any  in  the  history 
of  the  church.  Mr.  William  V.  Husted  died  May  14,  1908, 
after  a  service  in  the  session  of  almost  forty-three  years. 
At  an  election  of  elders  held  May  17,  1908,  Arthur  T.  Parke, 
Esq.,  was  elected  to  succeed  Mr.  Husted  in  the  eldership. 
He  was  ordained  and  installed.  May  24,  1908. 

In  the  minutes  adopted  by  the  session  there  is  a  little 
sketch  of  Elder  Wm.  V.  Husted's  life  and  of  his  long  rela- 
tion with  this  church. 

"William  Vandever  Husted  was  born  in  West  Ches- 
ter, Pa.,  April  20,  1824,  and  with  the  exception  of  about  one 
vear  this  was  his  place  of  residence  all  his  life.  When  he 
was  less  than  ten  years  old  this  church  was  organized,  and 
a  little  while  before  its  organization  a  Sabbath  School  was 
organized,  which  this  little  boy  began  to  attend. 

"Mr.  Husted's  relation  to  the  Sabbath  School  was 
worthy  of  note,  because  he  began  to  attend  almost,  if  not 
exactly,  at  the  opening  of  its  first  session,  and  with  the  ex- 
ception of  one  year's  absence  from  West  Chester  he  re- 
mained identified  with  the  school  as  scholar  or  teacher  un- 
til in  extreme  old  age  he  became  too  feeble  to  attend. 

"Our  Sabbath  School  has  been  greatly  blessed  in  lead- 
ing many  souls  to  accept  Christ  as  Saviour,  and  this  boy 


CHURCH.    OF    WEST    CHESTER.    PA.  79 

was  one  of  the  first  fruits.  On  April  30,  1843,  j'-ist  ten  days 
after  his  nineteenth  birthday,  he  was  received  into  commu- 
nicant membership  in  this  church.  There  is  nothing  special 
to  record  of  his  early  years  of  membership.  There  was  in 
his  heart  no  disposition  to  push  himself  into  prominence; 
he  was  one  of  those  who  did  nothing  through  strife  or  vain- 
glory, but  in  lowliness  of  mind  esteemed  others  better 
than  themselves.'  Yet  these  years  were  marked  by  such 
consistency  of  Christian  de])ortment  and  by  such  loyal  de- 
votion to  Christ  and  the  upbuilding  of  His  cause,  that  on 
October  22,  1865,  when  he  was  a  little  more  than  forty-one 
years  old,  he  and  Mr.  William  McCullough  were  elected  to 
the  eldership. 

With  the  election  of  these  two  men,  the  session  con- 
sisted of  P.  Frazer  Smith,  Dr.  William  Worthington,  Lam- 
bert Clark,  William  F.  Wyers,  William  McCullough  and 
William  V.  Husted.  Mr.  Husted  survived  the  last  of  these 
by  more  than  fifteen  years,  and  outlived  four  others  who 
were  later  chosen  to  serve  as  his  associates  in  this  high 
office.  Many  years  ago  a  vacancy  occurring  in  the  clerk- 
ship, Mr.  Husted  was  elected  clerk  and  treasurer  of  the 
session,  and  held  this  office  until  his  death. 

"Such  a  long  and  prominent  identification  with  this 
church  and  session  might  have  been  expected  to  give  al- 
most any  one  the  disposition  and  attitude  of  a  dictator,  at 
least  to  some  slight  degree ;  but  nothing  was  more  foreign 
to  Mr.  Husted  than  such  a  thought.  All  his  associates  can 
bear  witness  to  the  humble,  unassuming  spirit  of  this  man 
of  God,  who  was  ever  more  ready  to  listen  than  to  speak, 
and  was  always  willing,  without  the  least  pride  in  his 
opinion,  to  defer  gladly  to  the  mind  of  others  the  instant 
he  saw  that  their  judgment  was  safe;  and  even  when  not 
entirely  satisfied,  he  accepted  the  will  of  the  majority  with- 
out the  least  manifestation  of  disappointment,  and  with 
heartiest  determination  to  make  the  work  of  a  united  ses- 
sion a  blessing  to  the  cause  he  so  dearly  loved. 

"His  afi^ectionate  loyalty  to  his  pastor  was  all  that  any 
human  heart  could  render.     His  attitude  was  one  of  contin- 


80  HISTORY  OF   THE   FIRST   PRESBYTERIAN 

tied,  and,  if  possible,  increasing  sympathy  and  support.  He 
never  failed  for  one  instant  to  do  all  in  his  power  to  hold 
up  his  pastor's  hands.     His  love  was  wonderful.       *       *     * 

"During  all  the  years  his  place  was  never  vacant  in 
the  church  service,  morning  or  evening,  or  at  the  mid- 
week prayer  meeting,  except  once  in  a  long  while  when  a 
short  illness  might  prevent,  or  he  might  be  absent  from 
home.  This  faithfulness  to  all  church  meetings  character- 
ized his  long  life  until  the  very  day  when  he  was  stricken 
with  the  sickness  from  which  he  did  not  recover;  then  for 
several  months  he  was  'shut  in,'  that  in  God's  own  way 
His  child  might  be  fully  prepared  for  higher  fellowship  and 
service,  and  late  in  the  afternoon  of  Thursday,  May  14th, 
he  'fell  asleep.'  " 

In  concluding  this  historical  sketch  it  remains  but  to 
mention  some  of  the  flourishing  organizations  connected 
with  this  church. 

First  of  all  we  have  the  Woman's  Home  Missionary 
Society,  and  the  Woman's  Foreign  A'lissionary  Society, 
which  have  existed  from  the  early  years  of  the  church.  The 
work  of  these  two  societies  has  been  faithfully  done,  with 
devotion  and  self-sacrifice.  Through  the  instrumentality 
of  the  latter  organization,  this  church  has  for  quite  a  num- 
ber of  years,  supported  a  missionary  in  the  foreign  field. 
The  money  thus  raised  is  devoted  to  work  in  Etawah, 
India. 

Then  there  is  the  Young  People's  Mission  Band,  which 
has  really  existed  in  this  church  from  the  time  when  it  was 
organized  by  Mrs.  William  E.  ]\Ioore.  The  money  raised 
by  this  society  is  devoted  in  some  form  of  home  mission 
work ;  often  to  the  support  of  a  scholar  in  some  Home  Mis- 
sion School. 

Next  should  be  named  the  Christian  Endeavor  Society, 
first  established  in  this  church  under  the  leadership  of 
Rev.  Dr.  Caldwell.  Three  societies  are  maintained,  the 
Junior,  Intermediate  and  Senior. 

February  3,  1908,  a  meeting  of  the  men  of  the  church 
and   congregation   was   held   in   the   church   parlor  to   con- 


A  m 

.  H 

s  . 

5  ^ 


fc  ^  pq 

I  o 

>H  OS  . 

Eh  C  O 


';5K 


H  •? 


CHURCH.    OF    WEST    CHESTER,    PA.  81 

sider  the  organization  of  a  Brotherhood.  The  meeting 
was  addressed  by  Mr.  J.  H.  Jefferis,  an  elder  in  the  St. 
John's  Presbyterian  Church,  Devon,  Pa.,  and  Chairman  of 
our  Presbyterian  Committee  on  Brotherhoods. 

This  meeting  resulted  in  the  formation  of  a  Brother- 
hood which  has  continued  to  grow  from  the  beginning,  and 
is  regarded  as  one  of  the  most  important  and  promising  fea- 
tures of  Christian  activity  our  church  presents. 

The  officers  elected  at  the  organization  were  as  fol- 
lows: President.  Mr.  Casper  P,  Worthington ;  Secretary 
and  Treasurer,  ]\Ir.  Walter  C.  Munshower.  Messrs.  E.  L. 
McKinstry,  T.  Franklin  Woodside  and  William  Heckroth, 
with  the  two  officers  named  above,  constitute  the  Execu- 
tive Committee. 

In  the  fall  of  1908,  work  was  undertaken  among  the 
Italians.  It  was  planned  and  carried  on  under  the  auspices 
of  the  Young  People's  Mission  Band,  the  effort  being  at 
first  to  teach  the  Italians  the  English  language,  and  then 
to  help  them  in  other  ways  to  become  good  Christian  citi- 
zens. Rev.  Felix  B.  Santilli,  Presbyterial  Evangelist  among 
Italians,  soon  began  to  come  once  a  week  to  visit  among 
the  Italian  families,  and  to  help  in  the  school  work.  After 
a  few  weeks  he  began  holding  a  brief  religious  service, 
preaching  to  them  in  their  own  language.  As  a  result  quite 
a  number  are  already  beginning  to  attend  the  Sabbath 
School  and  some  are  beginning  to  come  to  the  regular 
church  services. 

To  give  a  final  summary  of  the  work  of  this  church,  as 
represented  in  the  number  received  into  the  church  under 
the  different  pastors,  will  involve  the  repetition  of  the  fig- 
ures given  at  the  close  of  the  pastorates,  but  it  will  be  help- 
ful in  presenting  in  one  aspect  of  it  the  influence  of  this 
Church  upon  this  community  during  the  three-quarters  of 
a  century  in  which  God  has  permitted  it  to  do  its  work. 

During  the  pastorate  of  Mr.  Stevens  there  were  re- 
ceived into  membership  by  profession  of  faith,  47;  by  let- 
ter, 21  ;  making  a  total  of  68.  During  the  pastorate  of  Mr. 
Graff,  by  profession  of  faith.   16;  by  letter,  25;  making  a 


HISTORY   OF   THE    FIRST   PRESBYTERIAN 


total  of  41.  In  Mr.  Crowell's  pastorate  there  were  received 
by  profession  of  faith,  60;  by  letter,  30;  making  a  total  of 
90.  During  Mr.  Moore's  pastorate  there  were  received  on 
profession  of  faith,  325;  by  letter,  221;  making  a  total  of 
546.  In  Mr.  Jones'  pastorate  there  were  received  by  pro- 
fession of  faith,  217;  by  letter,  114;  making  a  total  of  331. 
Under  Mr.  Caldwell's  pastorate  there  were  received  on 
profession  of  faith,  162;  by  letter,  132;  making  a  total  of 
294.  During  the  present  pastorate  there  have  been  re- 
ceived to  January  i,  1909,  on  profession  of  faith.  430;  by 
letter,  269;  making  a  total  of  699. 

During  the  entire  seventy-five  years  there  have  been 
received  into  this  church  on  profession  of  faith,  1257;  by 
letter.  812:  making  a  grand  total  of  2069. 

This  large  number  represents  those  who  came  into 
communicant  membershij)  in  this  church.  Many  came  by 
letter  from  other  churches  to  find  here  those  religious  in- 
fluences by  which  their  souls  could  be  nourished  and  fitted 
for  the  hea^•enly  home.  The  great  majority,  however, 
were  here  led  to  accept  Christ  as  their  Saviour  by  the  Spirit 
of  God  working  upon  their  hearts  through  sermons  and 
Sabbath  School  lessons  and  the  personal  efforts  of  pastors, 
Sabbath  School  teachers  and  parents.  In  this  church  they 
commemorated  for  the  first  time  the  Saviour's  dying  love 
as  they  came  to  the  table  of  the  Lord.  Here  they  were  built 
up  in  faith  and  love,  and  became,  many  of  them,  earnest 
workers  in  this  church. 

The  six  hundred  and  seventeen  communicants  on  the 
roll  at  the  time  of  the  seventy-fifth  anniversary  subtracted 
from  the  total  number  received  give  fourteen  hundred  and 
fifty-two.  Probably  two  hundred  of  these  are  still  in  mem- 
bership with  other  churches  to  which  they  have  taken  their 
letters  from  this  church,  but  the  others  have  passed  over  to 
the  other  side. 

These,  of  course,  who  came  into  communicant  mem- 
bership, are  those  who  have  been  most  influenced  by  this 
church,  but  even  this  great  number  are  but  a  small  per- 
centage of  those  whose  lives  have  been  more  or  less  bene- 


CHURCH.    OF    WEST    CHESTER,    PA.  S3 

fited  by  the  public  worship,  the  prayer  meetings,  the  Sab- 
bath Schools  here  and  in  other  places  estabHshed  and  con- 
ducted by  this  church,  not  to  speak  of  what  the  contribu- 
tions of  this  church  have  helped  to  accomplish  in  a  large 
way  in  our  own  and  in  foreign  lands. 

With  grateful  recognition  of  the  mercy  and  grace  of 
our  Saviour  which  have  been  so  gloriously  manifested  in 
the  past,  with  increased  faith  in  the  God  of  our  fathers, 
whose  word  "has  been  tried,"  and  with  a  deeper  sense  than 
ever  of  the  privileges  and  responsibilities  for  which  we  also 
shall  soon  render  an  account,  we  invoke  the  guidance  and 
power  of  the  Holy  Spirit,  praying  that  with  the  blessing 
of  the  Most  High  this  church  may  be  more  and  more  able 
to  accomplish  a  work  that  will  not  only  abide  through  the 
coming  generations  but  endure  the  tests  of  the  Great  Da}' 
of  the  Lord. 


84  HISTORY   OP   THE   FIRST   PRESBYTERIAN 


A^PFENDTX 


ROLL  OF  ELDERS 

Dr.    Stephen    Harris Jan    lo,   1834  Dismissed.  .  Jan.  18,   1840 

Thomas    Hutchinson Jan.    10,   1834  Dismissed.  ..Nov.  — ,   1841 

Robert    Ralston Jan.    10,   1834  Dismissed.  ..Apr.  30,   1836 

Charles  Sink Jan.   10,  1834  Dismissed.  ..June  18,  1838 

Henry   Fleming Jan.    10,   1834  Died Sept.  29,   1865 

P.  Frazer  Smith Oct.     8,  1834  Dismissed..  .Nov.  10,  1875 

Dr.  Wilmep  Worthington.Oct.  30,   1836  Died Sept.  11,   1873 

James    Crowell Nov.    14,  1841  Dismissed.  ..Mar.  15,  1854 

Lambert    Clark July     9,   1854  Died May  16,   1869 

William   F.   Wyers July     9,   1854  Died June  23,   1871 

William  McCullough Oct.  22.   1865  Died Apr.  2,   1892 

William  V  Husted Oct.  22,   1865  Died May  14,   1908 

John    G.    Robison Apr.    14,   1872  Died Jan.  17,   1905 

William  E.  Barber Apr.   14,   1872  Died Apr.  13,   1882 

William   S".   Kirk Apr.   14,   1872  Resigned.  .  ..June  15,   1877 

Alfred   P.   Reid Apr.   14.   1872  Resigned May  20,   1892 

Paul    F.    Whitehead Apr.    24.  1878  Died Oct.  14,    1884 

Herman  F.  Wyers May     7,   1882  Resigned May  20,   1892 

J.   Gheen  Morgan Apr.  26,   1885  Resigned.  ..  .Jan.  8,   1890 

William    Dowlin Apr.      i,   1890  Resis^ned.  .  ..May  20,   1892 

William  C.  Husted Apr.     i,   1893 

William   C.   Hawkins.  ..  .Apr.     i,   1893  Died    Feb.  4,   1897 

Samuel  O.  Barber Apr.     i,   1893 

Dr.  William   K.  Thorp.. Apr.     i,   1893 

Samuel  D.   Ramsey Apr.   18,   1897 

Herbert    McCornack.  .  .  .  Apr.   30,   1905 
Arthur  T.  Parke May  17,  1908 

ROLL  OF  DEACONS 

William    P.    Schell May   7,   1882  Resigned ....  Feb.  17,   1885 

Samuel    M.    Brown May   7,   1882  Resigned.  ..  .June  30,   1886 

J.    Gheen    Morgan May    7,   1882  Resigned May  20.   1892 

William    Dowlin May   7,   1882  Resigned.  .  ..May  20,   1892 

W.   W.   MacElree May  7,   1882  Resigned May  20,   1892 

William    C.    Husted May  7,   1882 


CHURCH,    OF    WEST    CHESTER,    PA. 


85 


LIST  OF  TRUSTEES 


Giving  the  Year  of  Their  Election  to  Office 


Henry   Fleming    1834 

Hon.  Thomas   S.   Bell 1834 

William    H.    Dillingham 1834 

Joseph    Smith    1834 

Asher    Miner     1834 

Thomas   Hutchinson    1834 

P.  Frazer  Smith   1834 

Dr.    Wilmer   Worthington..i834 

Ziba  Pyle    1835 

James    Crowell    1842 

Thomas  S.  Bell   1842 

William    Apple    1842 

John    Marshall    .' 1842 

William   Williamson    1842 

F.   E.   Parki    1853 

B.   Franklin   Pyle    1853 

Dr.  A.   L.   Bardin    1858 

Hon.   William    B.  Waddell.  1858 

Hon.  J.   Smith   Futhey 1858 

John   G.   Robison    1861 

Caleb   Brinton,  Jr 1861 

William   H.   Dallett    1866 

Dr.   Isaac  Massey    1868 

William  S.  Kirk    1871 

David   M.    McFarland 1871 

Alfred  P.    Reid    1871 

Charles   Fairlamb    1872 


John  J.   Pinkerton    1872 

S.    Alphonso    Kirk 1874 

Lewis   W.    Shields    1877 

David  W.  Eyre   1881 

Davis    Hause    1885 

George    Kerr    1885 

Evans   Rogers    1885 

Slater  B.    Russell    1885 

William  T.   Barber    1885 

Thomas    W.    Marshall 1887 

Dr.  Thos.  D.  Dunn   1887 

Wilmer    W.    MacElree 1888 

Charles   M.   Crowell 1890 

William  B.  Dunwoody 1891 

Hugh    DeHaven    1892 

Thomas  T.   Smith    1892 

Edward    E.   Shields    1896 

William   H.   Hodgson 1897 

Dr.   Robert   M.  Scott 1899 

Dr.   Charles  E.  Woodward.  1899 

E.   L.    McKinstry    1899 

Dr.   John    R.    Everhart 1899 

Arthur   T.    Parke    1901 

A.   Darlington  Strode 1903 

Joseph    Menkins,    Sr 1906 

Howard    G.   Darlington 1907 


OFFICERS   OF   THE   FIRST   PRESBYTERIAN 
CHURCH 


The  Session 

Rev.  Washington  R.  Laird,  Ph.  D.,  Moderator 

William   C.  Husted,   Clerk 

Dr.  William  K.  Thorp 

Samuel   O.   Barber 

Samuel  D.   Ramsey,  Esq. 

Herbert  McCornack 

Arthur  T.  Parke,  Esq. 


S6  HISTORY   OF   THE   FIRST   PRESBYTERIAN 

The  Board  of  Trustees 

Thomas    W.    Marshall,    President 

Edward   E.   Shields,   Secretarj' 

William   H.   Hodgson 

Dr.  Robert  M.  Scott 

Dr.   Charles   E.   Woodward 

Edwin  L.  McKinstry 

Arthur  T.   Parke,   Esq. 

A.   Darlington   Strode 

Howard   G.   Darlington 

OFFICERS  AND  TEACHERS  OF  THE 
SABBATH    SCHOOL 

Superintendent — Mr.   William    C.    Hasted. 

Assistant   Superintendent — Dr.   William    K.   Thorp. 

Treasurer — Mr.    Edward   E.   Shields. 

Chorister — Mr.  Joseph  F.  Hill. 

Organist — Mr.   Casper   P.   Worthington. 

Pianist — Mr.  Frank  A.  Pinkerton. 

Librarians— Mr.  C.  Harry  Barber,  Mr.  G.  Geyer  Hill,  Mr. 
John   A.   Johnson   and   Mr.   T.   Hastings   Travilla. 

Secretary — Mr.   George  S.   Roberts. 

Assistant  Secretary — ^^Ir.   Thomas  W.   Pierce.  Jr. 

Teachers — Mrs.  S.  LeRoy  Barber,  Miss  Ada  Barber,  Miss 
B.  Louise  Bruske,  Miss  Mary  A.  Bogle,  Miss  Elizabeth  H.  Dallett 
(Organized  Bible  Class),  Mrs.  Henry  J.  Furness,  Miss  Mary  E. 
Green,  Miss  Roberta  Laird,  Miss  Florence  E.  Martin,  Miss  Lo- 
rena  B.  Matlack,  Miss  Sallie  A.  Myers,  Miss  Lillian  W.  Pierce, 
Miss  Hattie  M.  Torbert,  Miss  Florence  Travilla,  Miss  Florence 
Thorp,  Miss  Lucy  E.  Woodruflf,  Mr.  William  E.  Baldwin.  Rev. 
Washington  R.  Laird  (Organized  Bible  Class),  Mr.  E.  L.  McKin- 
stry (Organized  Bible  Class),  Mr.  Herbert  McCornack,  Arthur 
T.  Parke,  Esq.,  Mr.  Louis  F".  Powell,  Samuel  D.  Ramsey,  Esq. 

Primary  Department 

Superintendent — Mrs.  Justin  E.   Harlan. 

Assistants — Mrs.  E.  L.  McKinstry,  Mrs.  Arthur  T.  Parke  and 
Mrs.  Charles  T.  Young. 

Organist — ^Miss  Frances  E.  Shields. 

Kindergarten  Section 

Kindergartner — Miss  Eleanor  B.   Ramsey. 

Harmony  Hill  Sabbath  School 

Superintendent — Mr.    Norman    B.    Guss. 


CHURCH,    OF    WEST    CHESTER,    PA. 


OFFICERS    AND    COMMITTEES    OF    THE 
CHRISTIAN    ENDEAVOR    SOCIETY 

President — Mr.  Harold  S.  Laird. 

Vice-President — Mr.  Herbert  J.  Plank. 

Recording  Secretary — Miss  Sara  E.  Abernethy. 

Corresponding    Secretary — Miss    Ida    E.    Crowe. 

Treasurer — Mr.  Charles  H.  Powell. 

Assistant  Treasurer — Mr.   C.    Norman   Hammond. 

Chorister— Mr.  Walter  R.  T.  Pratt. 

Pianist — Miss  Marian   E.  Sharpless. 

Organist — Mrs.   Norman   B.   Guss. 

Ushers — Mr.   William   Davis.   Mr.   Herbert   Moore. 

Superintendent   of   Intermediate    Society — Mrs.    Frank    R.    Gilbert. 

Superintendent   of  Junior   Society — Mrs.    Albert   J.    Walton. 

Assistant  Superintendents — Miss  Emma  March,  Miss  Mary  Bolton. 

Committees 

Lookout  Committee — Mrs.  George  R.  Scott,  cliairman;  Miss 
Emilj'  E.  Himmelright,  vice-chairman;  Miss  Ida  E.  Crowe,  Mrs. 
Frank  Burnett  and   Mr.  Jesse   K.  Weaver. 

Prayer  Meeting  Committee — Mr.  Louis  F.  Powell,  chairman; 
Mr.  John  A.  Aberneth3^  vice-chairman;  Miss  Carrie  L.  Few.  Miss 
Sara  J.  Ramsey,  Mr.  William  Davis  and  Mr.  Frank  R.  Gilbert. 

Calling  Committee — Mrs.  Alvernon  S.  Kester.  chairman;  Mrs. 
Tevis  Mercer,  vice-chairman;  Miss  Louisa  White  and  Miss  Jose- 
phine  Mitchell. 

Social  Committee — Miss  Roberta  Laird,  chairman:  Miss 
Marian  E.  Sharpless,  vice-chairman;  Mrs.  Frank  R.  Gilbert  and 
Mr.   Walter  R.  T.   Pratt. 

Refreshment  Committee — Miss  Mary  S.  Burnett,  chairman; 
Mrs.    Charles   H.   Powell,   vice-chairman;    Mr.    Robert   Laird. 

Missionary  Committee — Miss  Harriet  R.  Hallman.  chairman; 
Miss  Mary  Bolton,  vice-chairman;  Mrs.  Edward  Hoffman.  Mrs. 
Jason   Moore.   J\Iiss   Mildred   Kester  and   Mr.   Jacob  Wertz. 

Flower  Committee — Miss  Jessie  Furness,  chairman;  Miss 
Hattie  Torbert.  vice-chairman;  Miss  j\lary  Ramsey,  Mr.  Ralph 
Sharpless   and   Miss   Laura   Strode. 

Music  Committee — ]\[r.  Walter  R.  T.  Pratt,  chairman;  Miss 
Marian  E.  Sharpless.  Miss  B.  Louise  Bruske,  Mrs.  Norman  B. 
Guss,   Mr.  John   F.   Riddle  and   ]\Ir.   Herbert   !•"..   Moore. 

Information  Committee — Miss  Florence  I-.  Crowe,  chairman; 
Miss  Bertha  Few,  vice-chairman;  Miss  Lillian  Pierce,  Rev.  W. 
R.  Laird  and  Mr.  Norman  B.  Guss. 


88  HISTORY    OP    THE    FIRST    PRESBYTERIAN    CHURCH. 

OFFICERS    OF   THE   WOMAN'S   FOREIGN 
MISSIONARY    SOCIETY 

President— ]\liss  Mary  A.  Bogle. 

First  Vice-President — Mrs.  John  J.  Piiikerton. 

Second  Vice-President — Mrs.  John  J.  Ghecn. 

Secretary — Miss  Roberta  Laird. 

Treasurer — Miss   Elizabeth   H.   Dallett. 

Secretary  of  Literature — Mrs.   Robert   AL   Scott. 

Music  Committee — Mrs.  Wm.  C.  Husted  and  Mrs.  John  J.  Ghcen. 

OFFICERS    OF   THE    WOMAN'S    HOME 
MISSIONARY    SOCIETY 

President — Mrs.  Justin   E.   Harlan. 
First  Vice-President — Mrs.  Maurice  R.  Travilla. 
Second  Vice-President — Miss  Mary  L   Stille. 
Secretary — Mrs.   George  E.  Enibree. 
Treasurer — -Miss  Mary  Noble. 

OFFICERS    OF   THE    CHAPEL    CIRCLE 

President — Miss  Jennie  B.   Alartin. 

First  Vice-President — Miss    Elizabeth    H.    Dallett. 

Second  Vice-President — Mrs.  William  C.  Husted. 

Secretary — Mrs.   Charles  Hoopes. 

Treasurer— Mrs.    Robert    M.   Scott. 

OFFICERS   OF  THE  YOUNG  PEOPLE'S 
MISSION    BAND 

President — Airs.  William   C.   Husted. 
Vice-President— Mrs.    Robert    M.    Scott. 
Secretary — Miss   Margaret   H.   Griffith. 
Treasurer — Miss  Florence  L.  Crowe. 

OFFICERS   OF  THE  BROTHERHOOD   OF  THE 
FIRST  PRESBYTERIAN   CHURCH 

President — Mr.   Casper   P.   Worthington. 

Secretary  and  Treasurer — Mr.   Walter   C.    Munshower. 

Executive  Committee — Casper  P.  Worthington,  chairman; 
Walter  C.  Munshower,  secretary;  William  A.  Heckroth,  T.  Frank 
Woodside,   E.   L.   McKinstry. 

Organist — Mr.    Casper   P.   Worthington. 

Chorister— Air.  Walter  R.  T.  Pratt. 


Princeton  Theological  Seminary  Libraries 


1    1012  01251    8546 


